Fragments of Lost Dreams: Truth and Prayers
by PopCandysmiley
Summary: "Allen, even if I can't see or hear you, our hearts will connect us. The shattered fragments now might disappear, but for sure, they will gather in our hearts again. By then, we can fulfill our promise, together; by battling and putting our lives forward knowing the truth." D Gray Man Fanfiction! Plot based on manga! All characters from DGM will appear!"
1. Introduction Arc - Act I:Begin

_**Introduction Arc**_

_**Act I **_

_**Beginning**_

_**The Start**_

_******~OoOoO~**_

**_Hey guys! This is my first Fanfiction..._**

**_I realized this month that I miss D. Gray Man so much! It has been a loong while since the last chapter and... something is hitting very hard my head, because I am really curious about everything in the manga._**

**_That is why; I decided to write a fanfiction. I thought it would be fun and I could make an ending. :D Thus, English isn't my first language, I think it is one of my WORST language, that is why, I will be really happy if someone help me with this, help me to improve my language._**

**_( Oh, if someone is curious, my first language is Japanese. Second is Portuguese. And I studied English for two years...)_**

**_Hope you like this._**

**_PS: this is just a Introduction Arc where I will casually introduce my OC's, if you are looking for the Canon Characters, they start to appear effectively after chapter 'IV' from this Arc. Feel free to just skip this Arc if you want._**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own D Gray Man! But I own my Oc._**

**_Story: PopCandysmiley_**

**_Edit: _****_TriforceandSheikahArts_**

**PLEASE, REVIEW!**

_******~OoOoO~**_

_It was bitterly cold and dark. I couldn't do anything but close my eyes and let my body make its way slowly through the darkness. Strangely, fear didn't take my mind away; __maybe__ because I had already given up hope that nothing would reach me. But deep in my heart, I still had some **hope**, a strong will that someone would find me and release my soul from this abyss._

_How much time has passed since I got here? **Time is unknown**; I thought, as I was unable to reach a plausible answer. It is possible that already hours, days, weeks, month or years have gone by. All I know is that I continue drifting in this place, falling in the oblivion, never stopping. That is quite obvious, since when something starts to fall, nothing can hold it back. Once it has settled, it will break._

_Is that my **fate**, to continue falling? Well, I will not answer it, since the answer is right in front of me. Sometimes I really believed that I could get out from the darkness; but this hope was crushed into many **pieces** and disappeared. It was back then I realized that at the same time I failed, I forgot about something. Yes... oblivion._

_Shall I give up? I suddenly felt frightened, like I would drown in a sea of darkness. If it happens, I will probably **forget** everyone that I once used to love; things that I loved to do and even forget who I was one day. It can stop all my sorrows and loneliness now, but I think it is very cruel and sad if I die here alone, empty, **not knowing anything**._

_A single tear escaped from my golden eye and ran through my cold cheek. "Hmm...?" I open my mouth in surprise, making my eyes grow wide._

_My body suddenly started to float, gently and softly, before stopping and it carefully landed me on... a floor? Quickly, I tried to get to my feet, but it was difficult because my muscles were very weak. It was like trying to stand for the first time. My knees were shaking, they couldn't bear my weight; finally, they gave in and let me fall brutally to the floor._

_Supported on my weak knees, I paused for a while trying to understand what had happened. Tilting my head, I could see my face reflected on the floor: dark teal hair around shoulder length with side bangs covering part of my face. My eyes reflected the emptiness they bore, Althought it was still possible to see a small light from the golden colored irisis. I felt my smooth pale skin and natural red lips curled upwards, but were unable to do anything else._

_I was doubtful if it was correct to touch **my own reflection**. I feared that the illusion would vanish or fade away. Hesitantly, my pale fingers shot forward and slowly leaned on the cold surface. I sighed in relief when I realized it hadn't vanished at all._

_Looking back at the surface, the image was still there, but changed violently; many shadowy figures appeared, taking the shape of a human head without any facial features except for a wide mouth with sharp teeth. I gasped in front the creepy image that formed and closed my eyes tightly, wishing that it would disappear. After some time, I managed to open them, before getting caught by some voices, quietly reaching my ears and being processed by my brain._

_I covered my ears with my bare hands, but the voices were so persistent that it eventually reached me. My head started to hurt and I placed my hands on my head, trying to contain the little explosion occurring inside. My head was getting pretty hot; it felt like it was going to erupt._

_My situation was really bad. BAD. REALLY BAD. My vision turned a little blurry and I felt something really hot, not my head, but my heart and the blood running through my veins. Suddenly, without thinking, I raised my right arm, clenched my fist almost getting my nails under the skin of my palm and with full strength, I hit the floor._

_To my surprise, the mirrored floor started to crack continuously, echoing the sound of the breaking glass. A pain shot up my arm before a warm liquid surrounded my hand. I soon realized that the red liquid was my blood dropping from my scars and coloring the floor. Like a huge wave of the ocean, a red liquid covered the entire floor and surrounded me, taking me over._

_Some moment before being hit by the giant wave, I could felt tears coming out from my eyes, my warm tears that ran through my cold face. It hurts, more than that... my heart hurt. What is the meaning of this? This face? This voice? What... what is it all?_

**Am I dying here?**

_**-o0o0o-**_

Startled, I realized I had spaced out again due to Helena shaking my shoulders. In an effort to stop her, I raised my arms in front of her. She then stopped. A little dizzy, I blinked several times until my eyes could see my surroundings perfectly. I was settled on one of the two rows of long benches, inside a dining room or cafeteria. Staring at the ceiling, I saw beautiful crystal chandeliers hanging all around. Sitting across from me was Helena. Helena was somewhere between forty to fifty years old, but looked around thirty. Wearing a white lab coat and glasses, she has long brown hair tied in a low braid and—

"Heeeey, dear, are you still in our world?" A hand appeared in front of my nose, waving slowly to catch my attention. "Were you even listening? I bet you weren't!" Now, her voice changed to a slightly annoying or a little angry one, as she moved her hand back to her side.

"Sorry." I glued my eyes to the table and see my half eaten breakfast: partial bitten bread, corn soup and a cup of coffee. Instinctively I took my cup and started to drink from it, but it was too hot, which made me take a small sip – enough to dry my throat – as I tried to ignore Helena's sharp glare.

"Leilah," the female scientist called to me in a harsh tone as she straightened herself. "I have told you many times to look people in the eyes when they are talking."

I sighed. "Sorry Helena." I put down my cup and looked straight at her. "I wasn't listening at all. If you don't mind, can you repeat yourself?"

"At least you are sincere," she chuckled and took a good sip of her wine – Romanée Conti to be exact. "You are better than him at this point." Helena's index finger pointed to a blond boy, who had his face buried in his folded arms. He sat at the table closest to her. "He's always sleep or spacing out."

My eyes rolled over to her direction and I see Fayne, a young Exorcist like me... well, he is old physically I assure you, I am older than him mentally. "Fayne," I called to him in a monotonous tone, without expecting a reply.

"What?" Surprisingly, a sleep and weak voice came to my ear. "Isn't it common sense to not disturb people when they are dreaming?" He snapped his head and turned to face me, my cat yellow coloured eyes reflecting his amethyst eyes.

"And isn't it common sense to hear what people have to say? Like Helena." I replied calmly.

"But you weren't listening at all!" He started to yawn and stretched his arms.

I blinked. How did he know? Wasn't he sleeping all the time?

"Oh! Then you were awake and just pretended to sleep?" Helena asked a little disappointed by both of us. "These kids…" She gulped down the last drop of her red alcoholic substance.

"Ah." Fayne put one of his bare hands over his mouth, like he shouldn't have talked that much; yet his expression stayed the same: boring and tired.

"So, tell us what you were talking, please?" I sighed before I grabbed my spoon and ate the corn soup. Creepy, it was cold.

Helena opened her mouth but she suddenly shut it. Not getting the situation, I glanced at Fayne and saw him raise a hand, like a student waiting for his turn to ask the teacher a question. At first, I ignored him but he stared at me really hard, in a childish way, making me give in.

"Okay, talk."

He coughs two times to announce... well, talk. "Doctor Helena was talking about the Exorcists. Like how she was worried and is developing new uniforms for us. Ah. And she is pretty worried with you, because you are spacing out so much and have become quite quiet these past few days. Not to mention your sudden nightmares and—" Fayne paused to catch his breath. "And... what was that? I forgot."

"And I scolded him for sleeping anywhere. He will catch a cold if he continues to lean against something and sleep! We are in winter people! The wind is very cold at nighttime!" Helena interrupts him. Fayne he stayed emotionless.

"Fay," I muttered threateningly, "if you tell anyone what you heard about me, I swear you will not sleep well for a long, long time!"

"Whaaaat~" he sang teasingly. "I don't know what you are talking about." Suddenly, tears sprouted from his purple eyes; crocodile tears. "These days you are getting so mean..."

"Argh, I give up." I huffed, taking a large bite out of the bread. "You don't have to worry about me, Helena. When I was child, I had strange dreams… but I have gotten used to them, so you don't need to worry."

Helena stood up, holding both her wineglass and the expensive bottle in both hands. I watched her walk towards me and pull me into a tight hug. "Even when you say so, I will worry. I think of you like my real daughter, not only an "adoptive foreigner"." I closed my eyes sensing her warm heart and body. "I love you, Leilah. Take care of yourself," she cooed and let me go.

Fayne and I watched her walk off. "That's it?" I looked at Fayne, who shrugged his shoulders.

"The doctor adopted you, right?" He inquired.

I groaned. "Fayne, you ask this every time, but you already know everything..."

Yeah. I came to the Black Order when I was five years old. Helena was one of the scientists in charge to research Innocence at the time. Basically, a lot of things happened, and in the end she adopted me. Ah, such long details… maybe some time I will recall them all. But right now, my head is clogged from this last nightmare.

"Leilah?" a concerned voice called out my name, but his blank expression never left his pale face.

"Ah." Was I was spacing out again? "Fay, um, do you believe in your dreams?" I stammered.

He made a puzzled face and began to scratch his cheek with his index finger. "Well," the blond murmured as his gaze met mine.

Several minutes passed and the boy stayed quiet. Is he... sleeping? No, no. I think that even Fayne, who likes to sleep... always, doesn't sleep while we are talking... or he does? I considered the situation for a while and decided to get his attention. "Fayne," I said under my breath. No answer. "Fayne," I raise my tone a little. "FA-Y-NE!" a little pissed off, I intoned each syllable of his name with a dark tenor, to make it clear that he was getting on my nerves.

"AHH!" he quickly stood up, making me jump in surprise. "I get it now."

"W-what," I stuttered while I put my hand to my chest to check if my heart was still beating. "Were... were you taking a nap?"

"What are you talking about?" His eyebrows twitched. "I was thinking."

"Ah."

"So, I like to sleep… A lot. When you sleep, you can forget bad things and sometimes you can have good dreams too!" His lips curled upwards but it didn't take much time for it to disappear. "But a dream is a dream. Even how good it is, it is only a 'dream,' nothing more, nothing less."

"Yeah..." I muttered, taking the cup of coffee that I had forgotten this whole time. Ugh, it's gotten cold too. Just great.

A silence fell between me and the blond. God, I want someone to break it. Fayne won't say anything so I guess I have to break it? Okay, you do it, Leilah. "Err, Fayne," I quietly called him but when I looked at him, he was already asleep… again. I feel an idiot and sighed tiredly.

"Geez..."

"Oh. Leilah you were here," Reever called. I lifted my head to the source of the voice.

Reever, a scientist in his mid-twenties, with sandy blonde hair styled messily came over. He was wearing the same white lab coat as Helena. "Finally I found you."

"Finally?" I made a curious look and he nodded.

"The Supervisor wants to talk to you and..."

"Me?" Fayne pointed to his own face.

"Yeah…" the sandy hair sighed.

"I don't want to." He pouted. "Doctor Reever, the Maniac Sister Complex Supervisor Komui is SUPER annoying..."

Reever rolled his eyes to Fayne and grabbed the back of his neck, tired. "I assure you, this time he won't make you clean his office or listen to him talk about how Lenalee is cute and such."

I chuckled. "Or maybe he will."

"Then I won't go." Fayne crossed his arms.

A heavy sigh escaped the scientist's lips. "Fayne, don't try to escape from your work AGAIN." He stressed the final word, but Fayne stayed rigid like stone and ignored his last sentence.

"Come on, Fay. You are not a kid." I sighed in unison with Reever. "Reever looks more tired than you, so you shouldn't bother him." I got up from my seat and grabbed the blonde's arms, dragging him to the door. "Sorry for the trouble Reever."

"It's fine." He shrugged before following.

_**-o0o0o-**_

I dragged Fayne along all the way to Komui's office. Going up stairs, passing some dark halls, passing by a bunch of black doors... and, of course, he tried to escape all the way. Now the two of us are standing in front a huge wooden door. I knocked three times and wait for someone to respond.

"The sister complex isn't here," the blond said with a smug smile. "We should go back—"

"No." I rebutted. Seriously, Fayne is... well, I admit that he is handsome and looks very mature. But, hell no, he is lazy and childish most of the time. To think when I first met him, I thought he was a fine man. Ah, but he always has the same bored, tired and deadpanned expression, which seriously turned me off.

"Why?" He pouted.

"It is your work," I scolded his silly question.

"But only work is boring," he replied plainly.

"But you sleep most of the time."

He made a face and, ignoring me again, he pointed out, "But only work isn't good, we need to rest too. It seems like you especially aren't getting enough beauty sleep."

Mentally, I face palmed. We aren't getting anywhere if we continue this childish argument.

"You—"

I close my mouth as I hear footsteps approaching. Fayne and I glanced at the door as it slowly opened. In front of me appeared Komui Lee, a tall Chinese man with dark blue hair and wide eyes. He was wearing a lab coat with an ornate Black Order cross embedded to the left side of his long white jacket.

"Oh, I was waiting for you two," he said softly, adjusting his glasses and beret. "Please enter."

Quietly, I stepped in and I felt like I crushed something. Lowering my head, I could see some papers under my boots. I glanced around the room – everywhere was filled with papers, including the floor. Heck, there didn't seem to be a floor, it was hidden under stacks of old paper. Even the chief's desk was filled with stacks of paperwork and the bookshelves spanning across the entire wall of his office were lined with papers and books.

Komui passed me to sit, and ushered for us to sit down on the velvet purple couch. I settled myself down, trying to not crush the papers, but it was impossible.

"Fayne, what are doing?" I asked a little annoyed, watching him out of the corner of my eye.

"I **will not **clean this room again." I blinked, surprised by the fact he yelled and his dull voice rose by several octets, showing the disgust he felt to the scene right in front of him.

"Eh~ that is mean, Fayne. You won't help me?" Komui pouted. Oh. Pout. It is exactly the same thing Fay does. "I asked you because everyone said that you wouldn't refuse..."

"It was because I didn't have any reasons to refuse..." He sighed before making his way beside me. "Now I have a reason," he muttered to himself, making me chuckle.

"Brother?" a sweet female voice came from the door. I shifted my head and there she was: the Supervisor's little sister, Lenalee Lee. She was a cute girl, no older than sixteen, with long dark hair tied in two pigtails. She wore an Exorcist uniform, consisting of a jacket and skirt. "Ah, hello, Leilah and Fayne," she greeted, smiling while holding a coffee cup... Yoshi's cup!

Fay waved, bored. I greeted Lenalee with a smile, but my eyes were glued to the cup she was holding: the Yoshi cup. That cute pink rabbit was delightful with its fluffy tail and bright red eyes. Also, he always sticks out his tongue… its cute, in a weird way. But that mug… is a special edition of Yoshi, where he is wearing Cupid clothes and carrying a bow and arrow set ready to shoot at someone! I WANT THAT MUG SO BADLY.

"Leilah, are you okay?" I was saved from my thoughts and saw Lenalee watching me. Sadly, she was no longer holding the cute mug. Instead, Komui was. DAMN.

I hid my feelings of disappointment by smiling and nodding to her.

"Can we get to the point? It is giving me chills to stay in this... office." Fayne finally managed to open his mouth.

"Ah, right, right." Komui replied, both amused and happy. I think he's overly cheerful because Lenalee him made coffee. "Well, look here." He showed us a map, pointing to south Germany.

"Innocence in Germany?" I blurted out.

"It is only a speculation. We have sent some Finders to 'Berkeinn,' a small destroyed village on the southern side of Germany." The Supervisor paused to sip from his coffee mug. Damn him, I still want that mug! "But none of them came back and we can't make contact with them."

"'Destroyed?'" I inquired while my eyebrowns furrowed a little, "what do you mean, Komui?"

"Well ..." He started a bit nervous, apparently even he doesn't know very well the situation, "from the last time we could make contact with the Finders, the village was destroyed about hundred years ago and recently, Akumas began to gather around."

"So, you are telling us to investigate by ourselves?" Fay asked, yawning and stretching his arms.

"Exactly!" Komui said in a false praise tone. "Can you depart right now?"

"Sure..." I replied quietly. "Do you have any documents for us?"

"Here you go." Komui handed me three pieces of paper. "The rest you can ask Fausto, the Finder who will support you two. He is waiting in front of the Gatekeeper."

"Good luck!" Lenalee shouted as me and Fayne left the messy office.

_**-o0o0o-**_

I walked to my room. All rooms in the Order are the same, I think. Each is medium sized with light coloured walls, a bed in the corner with a small bedside table, a wooden desk, a cabinet for clothes and a large window, which is perfect to see the eerie looking forest outside. I guess I forgot to mention that the Order is situated on a cliff surrounded by a dark and scary forest.

Quickly, I grabbed my duffel bag and put some things that I needed inside. Some clothes, books – I like to read during the travels – and my "Golem". Taking a good look around, I shut the black curtains, picked up my bag, and shut the door – but made sure to lock it. I adjusted my brown coloured bag on my shoulders and walk in direction of the Gatekeeper.

A few minutes later, a finder greeted me. "Mistress Leilah," a man wearing a yellow hoodie and matching long jacket bowed at me in respect. I returned the bow, mirroring the gesture. "I am Fausto, and I am here to support you and Master Fayne throughout the mission."

"Nice to meet you, Fausto," I looked straight to his face and see his dark eyes. Most of his face was covered with bandages, showing only his eyes. "Sorry, did you wait long?" I inquired.

"Not at all, Miss," he plainly replied. "Where is Master Fayne?"

"Here." Both of us shifted our heads to see Fayne coming our way. Like me, he was carrying a duffel bag and holding his precious violin. "It took me time to put on his bag."

"Of course," I muttered to myself.

"Master Fayne," Fausto bowed, greeting him. As predicted, Fay stayed stoic during the greeting.

I groaned.

_**-o0o0o-**_

The time passed by quite smoothly. It was roughly nine in the morning when we left the Order and got to the train station. Since Fayne and I are Exorcists, we have some "special" treatment, like, for example, take a first class cabin on the train. Right now, I am inside a cabin sitting on a yellow velvet couch. On my left side was Fayne and across, Fausto, the Finder.

"Hmm," I mumbled. "There isn't so much information."

"The only thing is that about four months ago, Akuma started to appear around the village." Fayne concluded as he flipped through the file. "It isn't any help for us," he stated utterly bored.

"Yes. We will have to search by ourselves when we arrive." Fausto stood up and placed his hand on the doorknob. "Excuse me." Silently, he opened the door and left the cabin.

"He won't stay with us?" I asked, confused.

Fayne yawned and leaned his back against the backrest. "Seems like no."

Tired, I sighed as Fay closed his purple eyes. I tried to take a nap the noisy train didn't cooperate with me. I ask myself how Fayne can sleep even with the noise of the train wheels and bell.

Hours later, my elbow was resting on the sill of the train window and my palm holding my chin. The sky was covered with clouds, reminding me of a shield blocking the blue sky. As the train moves, the scenery before my eyes changes little by little from a green forest to mountains, and then a long tunnel, which led to nothing but open grasslands before reaching the station.

The train stopped at the first station, opening its metal doors. I peek out the window and saw travelers leaving the train while others boarded for the first time. Unfortunately, I was on the side of the people who stay on, waiting for the next station. I was bored. I removed a book from my bag and read for sometime before stopping because it gave me a headache. Sleep wasn't a bad idea but the noise was hard to ignore. Now what? Oh, I can try to chat with someone.

"Fausto," I called, with the cabin door half opened. He looked up, surprised. "Can I join you?" He looked confused, but nodded since I was already sitting beside him on the red carpet hallway.

"M-Mistress Leilah," he nervously stammered. "Do you need something?"

I scratched my head. "Actually, no. I just wanted to talk with someone."

"But... you are an Exorcist."

"What about it?"

I could tell that he flinched at having to reply to me. "Exorcists... are different from Finders, Mistress Leilah. They are the chosen ones by God... and the Innocence." He paused for a moment as he faced me, but I interrupted him.

"Fausto, it doesn't mean you're beneath us or something." Looking him straight in the eye, I continued talking. "We, Exorcists, need you, the Finders, to accomplish our missions for this war. We are buddies, now, stop with this." I smiled at him to make him ease up.

Fausto eyes were wide. I watched his eyebrows rise very high. "Ye-Yes!" he finally replied. If it wasn't for his bandages, I could tell he was smiling.

"Great." I smiled back to him. Suddenly, the train stopped violently, making both me and Fausto fall to the floor. "HOLY—"

"Language, Leilah, language." A familiar lazy voice said from behind me. No surprise, seeing as how it was Fayne. "Hmm... looks like we don't have a train station anymore." He said simply, like it was nothing. But it was something! Soon, I heard the sounds of people screaming and bullets being fired.

"Fausto," I shook his shoulders. He looked at me, not seeming to grasp what was happening. "We are going to see what is happening… Stay in the train and hide, okay?" I stood up and stretched my hand, pulling Fausto to his feet. He thanked me and disappeared down the hallway.

"I think 'they' are here," Fay said while he was taking his violin out from its bag.

"Yeah..." I agreed.

I managed to move the faster than usual. I jumped from the window of our cabin to see what was happening. What I saw made me stop and gape. Roughly twenty-five meters ahead was the train station, but half of the platform was destroyed. People were lying on the ground, blood staining the ground… above their bodies were grey floating balls with dozens of guns pointed in all four directions, ready to shot. The balls each had a face on them with a matching pentacle: the mark of the dark matter.

**_It only means one thing: AKUMA_.**

**Act I**

**End**

**-o0o0o-**

**Author's Corner ...**

**So, guys, what did you think about it? I know this chapter went in a slow pace. Maybe because it is only the beginning, but I will make sure the rest of the chapters will be more boom, boom actions.**

**Please, review!**

**Oh, I will be pairing my OCs. (: Fayne and Leilah need love too, tee-hee.**

**Pairing suggestion, please!**

**I was thinking in pairings like...**

**LeilahxAllen or LeilahxLavi or LeilahxNeah or LeilahxTykki (Well, the last one will be more difficult to write without being out of character, but I will try!)**

**Fayne... well, there are a few female characters. :( I am a little confused if I should pair him or not.**

**For each pairing the plot will be different, so... Please, vote**

**It will be very slow how I will reveal Fayne's past. Truth be told, I think you will be surprised by his past. Look forward too it! Characters like Helena will shine in some parts on the story and for sure, Leilah. There are deep meanings hidden underneath all of them. Unfortunately the things will get VERY hot at the Ark arc... but I will try my best!**

**Please, if Leilah start to act so Mary Sue, please, tell me to change her! As the story goes, I will reveal some things of her.**

**I want to make all characters grow during the story and I am a little lost now...*sigh***

**Ah, last thing. *sensing people annoyed looks* on the next chapter...well, I don't know but I will post the character design and a special picture that I made with my friend! Look forward to it!**

**Oh, and special thanks to TriforceandSheikahArts, now my Beta Reader XD If you want to take a look on her - amazing - works, search for her name and have a good time reading her stories.**

**Well, thank you so much for reading. (:**


	2. Introduction Arc - Act II:Haunted House

**_Introduction Arc_**

**_Act II_**

**_Haunted House_**

**_Start_**

**__****~OoOoO~**

**_Hello there! I will start updating quickly. Maybe it is because I don't have so many things to do now, because my holidays started! Now, I can write a bunch of chapters for my first fanfic! *sigh* Hope you enjoy it. (:_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own D Gray Man! Only my dear OCs._**

**_If you are looking for the Canon Characters, they start to appear effectively after chapter 'IV' from this Arc._**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own D Gray Man! But I own my Oc._**

**_Story: PopCandysmiley_**

**_Edit: _****_TriforceandSheikahArts_**

**PLEASE, REVIEW!**

**__****~OoOoO~**

**_Run. Run. Run_.**

It's what I kept repeating as I ran as fast as possible to the station. The closer I got, however, the louder the screams and cries of the people on the platform got. I could see that people were shocked; the "monsters" standing before them eyed their shaken and pitiful faces with glee.

I hissed. There was no denying it; it was them: Akuma, the sworn enemy of the Black Order. The ones created by the Millennium Earl to kill humanity. Akuma were born from skeletons, souls and tragedy of the people who wept for their loved ones to return.

"AAHH!" another scream, a female voice, cried. "HELP, PLEASE, PLE—" she was begging for someone to help her, but everyone else was scared like her, unable to move a muscle or process a single thought "to save" others. The monsters were attacking without mercy, shooting violently at the civilians with their multicoloured purple bullets.

"DON'T COME CLOSER OR WE WILL SHOOT!" The Police were trying to protect the few survivors and those who couldn't move, since they were injured from the destruction of the platform.

_**Death. Death. Death. Death. Despair. Despair. Despair... stop thinking this, Leilah! Focus!**_

Hesitantly, I reached the platform and looked everywhere: the injured and dying, the destroyed platform, the falling debris of the building. Luckily, the train wasn't harmed. It had stopped mere meters before it reached the station.

_**Sorrow**_.

"What are you doing here, girl?!" a man shouted to me, horrified. "Get out of here… quickly!"

Gently, I put my right hand to my chest and felt my fast beating heart. Taking two deep and long breaths, I removed my white gloves exposing a light green cross on the back of my hands.

"Prayer's Hand... ACTIVATE!"

Even more determined, my Innocence sensed my resolve, allowing the cross to become brighter as it produced a warm green light that evolved my hands from pale white to scorched earth color. My once smooth hands turned into a metallic, steel like substance as it formed a gaunglet through my skin, my fingers soon transformed in deep finger plates with sharp nails on its tips, the steel around my knucles get some thick spikes and etched on the main plate, there was a glowing cross. **_"I pray for the souls inside you." _**I murmured to myself, kissing my hand.

"GIRL! RUN! IF YOU RUN NOW MAYBE YOU CAN—" the man was desperately trying to help me. Looking at him, he was covered in scratches, dirt and blood. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GET OUT—"

I smiled to him, gently and softly. "Thanks for your kindness, Mister." Then I showed him my hands. "I will leave after I have done my duty. I am an exorcist, so please, keep yourself safe." The man flinched, but nodded soon leaving the place quickly, struggling to hide his injuries.

Akumas were approaching me. Their faces were zombie-like because of their dilated and bulging bloodshot eyes, and their mouths were half open with pentacles all around them.

"Lightning," I whispered, clasping both hands together as I moved my palms towards my chest, "Release!" Hands open, I raised my arms parallel to my body, watching as a large number of tiny electric sparks formed quickly, moving almost as if they were dancing.

The enemies settled themselves a few meters in front of me and pointed their guns, prepared to fire. "Not this time!" I shouted, appearing behind one of them. I pressed my palm to its back and sent a great amount of shock waves at it. Jumping to the ground before it exploded, I landed safely and gracefully.

"And our Lady Leilah got on the ground safely," Fayne said tiredly. "I think I don't have to—"

"NO!" I snarled, watching him sit on one of the ruins from the station building. "What about the civilians?"

"Tch," he huffed, but his face was still deadpanned as always. "The civilians made their way out of the station... still some people died." I watched him slowly get up from his spot and walk my way. "There are more of them—" A bunch of bullets were shot our way, cutting his words and making the two of us jump high to dodge it. "Shit." He mumbled.

"Language Fayne, Language." I scolded him with a chuckle.

"Creepy. Leilah has become even more like Doctor Helena and Master Klaude."

"Shut up, Fay!" I ordered while the two of us landed on the ruins. The smoke that had formed when the bullets hit the ground was slowly disappearing in the cold breeze. "There's only one more?" I asked, pointing my index finger to the floating monster in the lazuli coloured sky.

"Leilah, get rid of it with your explosive lightning hands~" he cheerily sang, but it sounded more like teasing to me. "I'll stay here and watch."

I sighed, tired by his attitude and looked at the enemy who was searching for us. "Good. He hasn't seen us yet." I jumped again and reached the Akuma safely, quietly landing atop its back. Fist clenched, I punched its forehead applying a firm amount of pressure. "Bye-bye," I said bluntly to the defeated enemy, who exploded seconds after my hit spreading its poisonous smoke and disappearing into the winter sky like nothing.

Blatantly, the heels of my boots reached the ground. Looking around, I tried to locate one of my buddies. I deactivated my anti-Akuma weapon, allowing my hands to return to their 'normal' state. Afterwards, I slid my white gloves back on.

"Look, there she is." Fayne, bored, raised his finger in my direction as Fausto turned to face me.

"Are you okay, Mistress Leilah?" Fausto advanced. "You didn't injure yourself, which is good."

"And you, Fausto? Are you okay?"

"I am, thanks to both of you." Fausto paused to survey the damaged train station. "What a mess."

Glancing around, I saw the trouble the Akumas caused. Even the lowly level ones seemed to possess enough power to wreak such havoc. I lowered by head and bowed in respect for those who I couldn't save; it probably wasn't much, but even so, I have to do that, in respect for life.

There was a brief silence until Fayne broke it. "I wonder why they were here."

"Maybe they discover something about the Innocence?" Fausto replied a bit doubtful about what he said. "Or... the tragedy came here too."

"Maybe," I respond without making eye contact. "We better hurry." My eyes were glued to the horizon, which was covered by a large amount of grey clouds. "It'll rain today."

**~OoOoO~**

The three of us left the destroyed train station and entered the town that was connected to the station. The town was a medium sized city with many houses and buildings between two to three floors. It seemed like any other town, was the first thought that crossed my mind… not counting the many people that were staring and whispering at us.

"I wonder why they're staring." Fay rubbed the back of his neck showing his discomfort from the hard glares that intensified with each step we took.

"They must be scared or surprised by the sudden Akuma attack," Fausto pointed out, making Fay put his fist on his palm like he finally understood the situation.

"Still," I grimaced, looking around to the few people who stared. I saw heads poking out from windows, behind buildings and even barrels. "It is annoying," I blurted out searching for an inn that we could rest in before heading to Berkeinn.

"It is." Fayne agreed lazily. "But it is better then the Creepy Sister Complex Supervisor Komui shooting his annoying glares to all the guys."

"You know he only wants to protect his beloved sister, Lenalee." I chuckled at his blunt statement. "Well, I admit he is nosy and annoying sometimes..."

"Even Lenalee wants to stay far away from him sometimes." He crossed his arms and nodded. "I can understand why; it would be annoying and creepy to have him following you around everywhere."

"You really love him," I muttered, smiling as the boy shrugged, "Ahh, here!" I stopped in front of a huge house with three floors. It had a sign on the door with the words "Inn".

"Then I shall get some rooms for us." Fausto entered the building first. Fayne and I waited outside. After some minutes he opened the door and gestured for us to enter.

**~OoOoO~**

After Fausto booked the rooms, we decided to split into three solo groups to search for information regarding the village of Berkeinn, our true destination. Walking along the street, I caught unnecessary attention from people in the form of glares and people running away from me. Sigh. It wasn't good. Maybe today just isn't my day.

I reached into my jacket pocket and after some struggle I found my small pocket watch with an elegant silver ring imprinted on its edge. Opening the watch, I looked at the two black hands; the minute hand had almost reached twelve and the hour hand was pointing to the number three.

"Three o'clock, huh..." I murmured quietly.

One hour had passed since I waved goodbye to Fausto and Fayne, and I wasn't able to find out anything useful. Sad, I put my pocket watch away and tucked my teal hair behind my ear, but the cold wind made me shiver, shrugging my shoulders because of it.

I slowly made my way to a small garden on the edge of the town; there was only a field of grassland with some winter flowers coloured in timid red or pink. In some spots there were tall trees without any green leaves to warm them, making them darker. Glancing around the place, I found a wooden bench under one of the trees that I chose as my spot to sit down.

I sat on the bench but was surprised how it was cold. I signed in disappointment. "This is no good. I better try something else," I grumbled. I wasn't the best at obtaining information. Like I said before, people run from me because they are suspicious of me. Why? I battle Akuma, wear weird clothing and am a traveller that got here exactly on the day when the railway is destroyed. Well, I don't blame them for being suspicious.

Yawning, I returned to the street but a group of three kids stopped me. "Hey, Miss Traveler," one said.

I looked down and met the gazes of several children. "Hey, kiddos," I raised my hand from my coat pocket. "Want something?" I casually asked as their eyes sparkled nearly blinding me.

"Miss Traveler... you were the one who defeated those strange monsters, right?" The tallest of the group asked. He had orange hair and was sucking away on a grape flavoured lollipop while holding the sleeve of my black uniform.

I considered my situation for a moment before I replied, "Yep."

Again, their eyes widened, sparkling even more. "Can you tell us how you do it, Miss?" The only girl amongst the kids asked enthusiastically as she showed me a baby doll with a light pink dress on – like the one she was wearing. "Laura wants to hear too!"

"Hmm, sure," I paused for a moment to clear my throat when an idea passed through my mind. If it was an animation, I could tell that a small yellow lamp appeared overtop of my head. "Let's make a deal, kiddos." I crouched down to reach their height. "You all want me to tell you how I defeated those... monsters, right?" The boys nodded and the girl made her doll shake her head. I grinned. "I'll tell you all how I did it, but before I do, I want to ask you all a question. Also, feel free to call me Sis." I laughed to myself.

The kids raised their eyebrows in disbelief. One boy with brown hair, wearing a small black beret smiled widely and approached me. "What do you want to hear, Sis?" He asked.

A smug smile appeared across my pale skin. "You guys know about a village called Berkeinn?"

Suddenly they were quiet. Each of them seemed to be thinking as they placed their hand on their small chins, stroking them like they were adults. There was a long pause between us, maybe they didn't know about that village, I thought for a moment, but I was surprised by a small hand shaking my sleeve.

"Yes?" I turned my attention to the girl who was shaking my black uniform, "Do you know about that village?"

"I- is that the village which has a haunted house?" She asked me unsure, but I nodded to her that she was correct- even that I didn't know about that house, "Ah!" the pink dressed girl and her doll raised their hands high, "Laura and I know!" She exclaimed cheerfully.

"You know, Maria?" Both boys asked a little doubtful as they furrowed their eyebrows, only getting a small huff from the girl, whom sooner ignored the two confused boys gaze and turned to me.

"I don't know so much about that village, Sis," Maria continued while combing the short brunette hair of her doll, "but I once heard a rumour about a village that has the same name, 'Ber' ..." she stopped for a moment as she tried to say the small town name, "'Keinn'?"

"Ahhh, that is right." The lollipop boy withdrew the candy from his mouth. "There is an stupid story about people disappearing there."

"That is not stupid, you stupid Daniel!" The girl yelled at the boy and stomped hard in his foot, which made even me, cry inwardly in pain, "Sis, you already hear about?" She asked softly to me, ignoring the lollipop boy groans. I could barely tell that my face twitched a bit before that scene.

"No," I replied sincerely, "can you tell me, Maria?"

"Can I tell the story, Maria?" The beret boy interjected as he raised a hand, "I can tell the story better than her, Big Sis." He pointed out innocently, the girl shot him a glare, but seeing that the boy wasn't caring, she leave nonchalantly and let he continue. "It is a story about a house where people disappear there without any sign left behind."

"Laura will tell the story!" The girl who have just leave her spot in front of me placed a doll forward, almost making me smack it on the face, "Marco, when you tell about it sounds really bored!" She exclaimed as Marco sweat dropped and take a spot beside Daniel, "Sis, I will continue, ok?"

"Sure ..." I responded while I tried to hide my smile, kids are something amusing to see.

"A small girl lived alone in a big mansion on this village, it seems that her parents died a long ago letting the girl alone all by herself," the girl told me while she played with her doll, "she lived with her servants, but about five months ago, everyone inside the mansion disappeared without any trace." She turned her gaze to me, a bit worried, "after that, the police tried to catch the possible one who killed everyone, but there was no lucky."

My eyes widened slightly at her story. "No lucky?" I pressed.

"Yes," Marco stood up from the ground and eyed me, "the police found just the lothes of the murdered ones lying on the ground and the mansion got half destroyed."

"But they find the girl who lived there," Daniel joined the conversation without his lolippop, "but it seems tha she wasn't the same after that incident people tell that she looks like a dead people." He stopped for a moment until he completed, "well, the story is, whoever enters in this mansion, never return."

I nodded. "I see." After this, I didn't obtain many other answers. Anything else I asked them, they weren't able to respond well enough. So, like I have promised, I told them how I defeated the Akuma... err, monsters. It is quite obvious that I changed some parts to not scar them, but that part doesn't matter. Right now, something was kicking me in the gut; it was about this supposed haunted mansion.

Soon after I ended my business with the children and made my way to the inn. Hours ago, we had all agreed to reunite outside the inn in three hours.

"What time is it?" I took out my watch. "Shit." I grumbled as I started to hurry; it was almost six.

**_"Four hours have passed since we split up... I am so late!"_**

**_Act II_**

**_End_**

**__****~OoOoO~**

**Author's Corner ...**

**_I am really bad at writing battle scenes. I am training and I hope I can make better scenes from now on!_**

**_This chapter isn't well written, I know. Sorry for the bad quality but I am trying to write well the upcoming chapters!_**

**_Thanks for reading and please, review!_**

**_I am still open for voting!_**

**_Do you want to see Leilah pairing with someone!0? Please, say yes on your review!_**

**_Vote for AllenxLeilah, LavixLeilah,TykkixLeilah or NeahxLeilah! You have other pairing? Please, tell me!_**

**_RoadxNeah - special thanks! I appreciate the fact you reviewed my story! I hope you enjoyed the story! ((:_**

**_Hope you like it and until the next update!_**


	3. Extra Chapter - The scientist crime

**_Extra Chapter _**

**_The scientist Crime _**

**_OPTIONAL READING_**

**_~OoOoO~_**

**_ Time to time I will start to post short Extra Chapter about some characters to give them some chance to shine in the story._**

**_the first one here will be Helena._**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray Man, Master Katsura Hoshino does! But I own my OC's_**

**_If you are looking for the Canon Characters, they start to appear effectively after chapter 'IV' from this Arc._**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own D Gray Man! But I own my Oc._**

**_Story: PopCandysmiley_**

**_Edit: _****_TriforceandSheikahArts_**

**PLEASE, REVIEW!**

**~OoOoO~**

"Fabianna Cath, Gabriel MontBlanc, Roberto Santos, Carolinne Herrys, Victor Farron, Marianne Russel, Marcello Del Rocha, Isabelle Augusta, Karol Augusta, Jana Sterno ..." Tired, I stretched my hand to reach the forgotten coffee mug on my small desk. Truth be told, it wasn't that small, the problem was the number of papers and books covering the desk. Taking a sip of the cold coffee, my eyes wandered towards the monitor in front of me. "One hundred and twenty-seven children," I muttered under my breath while scratching the back of my head, messing up my already destroyed bun.

"I don't have any other options." I repeated, shutting my eyes as I struggled to not let my emotions take control. "It is necessary." I take some deep breaths. "... Just think of how to win this war… You don't have any other choice." I slammed my hand on the wooden desk, the sound echoing throughout the room where I sat alone. Off to the side, a stack of papers fell to the ground. "Think of it as a way to end the war sooner."

The Millennium Earl is trying to destroy all of humanity with his killing machines: Akuma. Akuma are weapons born from souls and tragedy, which feeds off humans to survive. In order to stop Akuma, we need Exorcists, the ones chosen by God with the "Shard of God's Crystal," also known as Innocence. Innocence is an unknown substance that bonds with certain people. Those people are called Accommodators. The Accommodators fight the Akuma with their "Anti-Akuma" weapons.

The Black Order is a religious underground entity connected to the Vatican, which is responsible in finding Exorcists to support and fight for them in their 'war' against the Millennium Earl. Truth is however, the Order is desperate to find new Accommodators. We're still too weak to defeat Akuma on our own. With each day that passes, more humans are killed and more Akuma are being born. As a result, the Order desperate to end this war … In an attempt to win, they've begun to lose their human values. It's sickening, but they have started to experiment on children, hoping to create future Accommodators. Sad to say, I'm a part of it. I know I am a hypocrite, the WORST of any living being. My mind went insane when I started those experiments. I couldn't see how wrong I was. I wasn't able to stop. When I realized I caused more despair and deaths, I knew it was time to stop.

Felicia Franks. Jorge Peterson. Julia Vasks. Henrique Klund. Kisha Mary. Octavio Julius. Marcia Dias. Erick Briston. Aisha. Lorena Park. William Gell. Sarah Kahamn. Marie Ludenberg. Lianne Fiole.

My eyes slowly began to feel discomforting yet warm. A tear was trying to escape from my eyes. But my own guilt – my stupid guilt – was combating the urge to let the tear fall. I fought against the small drop, but I lost, and let it run down my face. Then a sudden flash of memory came to mind making me feel really weak, both inside and outside.

"Leonardo!" I collapsed, falling from my comfortable chair to the cold floor. "I am sorry! Your Mommy ... was TOO WEAK ... Leonardo ... Leonardo!"

Leonardo Fleuret. It was the name of the person I loved more than anyone else. Why? He was my son; the very son that I killed. His smile, his voice, his face... his everything, I still remember it all from the bottom of my heart.

"I am sorry ... I am so sorry." Apologies. It was the only thing I could do now that I destroyed everything in my life, and in the lives of those I ended. My eyes and reality were covered by the ambition of winning the war that I couldn't see straight. I made studies and researches, but for what; to find new Accommodators? By the time I realized the error of my ways, it was too late for me and for Leonardo. I was completely insane and let my own child die.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." I continued to repeat like a broken disk.

After some hours, I finally calmed myself down, and got to my feet. I looked angrily at the stupid screen. I felt angry, angry at this organization and with myself. But I know I wasn't allowed to stop. If I stopped the Order wouldn't allow it. If I committed suicide – which I thought of daily – it would be easy for me. But I couldn't do it. I needed to live, at least until the end of the war. I had to survive in order to not let all those innocent lives I destroyed disappear and go to waste. Maybe it is just my selfish desire to live ... but I just can't stop.

So I continue with my boring, meaningless, dirty life. I still breathe and walk down this path coloured by a red liquid, which when I step in, I leave the marks of my blooded footsteps behind me. It was the color of my path: red. The only path I could walk … It's a path that I don't think anyone else would want to step in and provide assistance. I don't blame them; it's way too hectic and horrid.

Every second of my life, I thought of these children. Their faces, voices, laughs, eye colour; I thought of it all. I never got the chance or allowed myself to forget them.

To live was my punishment, and I was fine with that; for compared to the many horrible, monstrous things I made until today, it is nothing. Compared to the sufferings and sorrow I caused it is nothing. Compared to my son, Leonardo, the sorrow of having a mother like me is nothing. Compared to everything ... it is nothing. It is my fault ... my sin ... and I will bear it, no matter what happens...

**_I have to live._**

**_~OoOoO~_**

**PLEASE, REVIEW!**


	4. Introduction Arc - Act III:Night Time

**Introduction Arc**

**Act III**

**Night Time**

**Start**

**__****~OoOoO~**

**_Hello guys. (: Here is another chapter! I am getting really nervous because, in more one or two chapters, I will introduce the canon characters!_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray Man, Master Katsura Hoshino does! But I own my OC's_**

**_If you are looking for the Canon Characters, they start to appear effectively after chapter 'IV' from this Arc._**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own D Gray Man! But I own my Oc._**

**_Story: PopCandysmiley_**

**_Edit: _****_TriforceandSheikahArts_**

**PLEASE, REVIEW!**

**~OoOoO~**

Usually, I am not the type of person who often arrives late for their business like a certain blond, lazy exorcist named Fayne. But I'm also not the kind of person who always arrives on time like a certain Japanese exorcist named Yu Kanda. But if I had to choose, I would believe that I am one of those people that tries to not be late in general. Today, I failed to do so.

Small raindrops started to gently hit my face. Soon, a violent downpour began to fall from the gray coloured sky, making puddles of water form on the street and people run to seek shelter. I saw some people taking out umbrellas, and it made me realize how much I wanted one right now. Before I knew it, I was soaked completely, which still caught me off guard.

My slow steps changed to a quick run. Yes, I ran through the narrow street to reach the inn, where I would meet up with the guys: Fayne and Fausto. I tried my best to get there as quickly as possible, but the wet clothes didn't help. In fact, they were pretty uncomfortable due to its coldness and the fabric clinking to my skin; still, I managed to arrive safely to my destination.

Panting, I opened the wooden door and stepped inside. "Hello ..." I said quietly, poking my head in first. "Sorry, the rain caught me off guard ..." I rubbed the back of my neck and started to laugh nervously to the woman behind the reception desk.

"You had better be careful to not catch a cold, Miss." She plainly replied, not seeming to care that I was getting the wooden floor full of water, "Your name, please?"

"Leilah Fleuret."

The woman searched for something on the wooden pegs placed on the wall behind her, and seconds later, she turned back to face me with a warm smile. "Here, Miss Fleuret." I stretched my hands open as she placed a silver key with a wooden plate hanging on it with the number ten in my palms. "Room 10, is on the second floor." She gestured with her hands to a set of stairs on the end of the right corridor.

"Thanks." I nodded and headed for the stairs. Reaching the second floor, I looked for my room, moving my eyes on the numbers engraved on the metal plates. "9 ... 10!" I stopped in front the door and checked the number. It matched. "Hmm ... finally," I chirped and put my key in the lock turning it open.

The room was very simple, but my eyes were glued to the duffel bag placed in the middle of the room. "How did it get here?" I was confused. For a second, a picture of my bag sprouting hands and feet and running inside my room came to mind. "No, no, no." I shook my head violently, like a dog when it got wet, stopping when I felt the urge to sneeze. "I should change my clothes first, at least."

Thinking about the bag while I changed my clothes, I soon realized that Fausto probably took it when he made the reservations for our rooms. I didn't give the thought anymore attention, as I was soon focusing on changing into my uniform. Slowly, I picked up my bag off the floor and set it on the chair placed in the corner of the room across from a wooden desk. Opening the duffel bag, I fished out a change of clothes that – luckily – I always brought with on missions.

I stood up and checked to see if the window was closed before taking off the yellow curtain that was in my way. It was locked. Sighing with relief, I removed my wet uniform, throwing it on the floor without a care. Then, I wore my casual clothes: a long sleeved white shirt beneath my black suit, tight black pants and my black beret. On my feet, I wore the same boots I usually use with my uniform. "Alright!" I cheerfully marched towards the door, almost reaching the knob to turn it when I heard.

"LEILAH, ARE YOU THERE?"

I didn't know what happened. Truth be told, I was a little dizzy. Where am I? I asked myself. Slowly, my eyes opened and I realized that I was flat on my back with my hands taking a good grip on my nose, like it would fall off if I didn't hold it.

"Hmm?" a curious voice came on my ears. "... What are you doing down there, Leilah?"

Blinking thrice, my blurry vision finally cleared and I saw Fayne, who stood in front of the half opened door. Oh, let me guess ... he opened the door when I was about to. I didn't lock the door, my fault. BUT HE ALSO DOESN'T KNOCK!

I sighed, annoyed by my situation, before sitting up to glare at the other teen. "You opened that door without knocking and you ended up hitting my face!" I grumbled at him.

"Oh." He responds, bored. "Now I know why it made a strange sound when I opened the door."

For sure, a vein popped out on my forehead, "BECAUSE YOU HIT ME!" I snarled with a muffled voice because of my hand covering my nose and part of my mouth.

"Why are you holding your nose?" He asked casually to me, looking down to see my face.

"Maybe, just maybe, because you hit me," I grunted sarcastically, flicking a stray lock of blue hair away from my face before standing up.

"And why are you dressed like a boy?" Fay questioned, ignoring my scowl that has increased by a tenfold … all because of him.

I paused for a moment, looked at my clothes before sighing exasperatedly. "These are my casual clothes, Fayne," I explained.

"But why are you wearing those?" His eyebrows furrowed quickly.

Staring at his curious face, I huffed a little and muttered quietly. "... The rain got me."

The blond turned his back, but I was almost positive that he was smirking. I withheld the increasing urge to punch his shoulder. "Sorry for being late." I blurted out to change the subject and mood. Ah, but I was still annoyed.

"Well, if you got wet, then there is nothing to do about it." He replied, cut off by his own chuckles.

I took deep breaths to calm myself. Just don't let go on his peace, I told myself. "Where are we to meet with up Fausto?" Fayne doesn't answer, instead he gestures for me to follow him. Not thinking much, I locked the door and followed him downstairs, passing the main floor balcony to reach a dinning room. It was medium sized with four round tables placed around the space. Strangely, there wasn't anyone there except for Fausto, who waved. I waved back with a smile.

"Miss Leilah, you were late." He stated with concern.

I settled myself in a chair across from him. "I... I had some troubles on the way." I chuckled bitterly, shooting a glance at Fay as a hint to stay quiet, which he failed to see or just ignored, as I then told Fausto what happened. After some laughs and mocks directed at me from Fayne, we ordered our food and finally got to the real topic: the focus of our mission.

"I heard from an old lady," Fausto began the discussion, "that there is a haunted mansion in the village. I was told so because many people started to go missing after an accident there."

"A bunch of kids told me the same thing." I interrupted him. "They said there was a girl who lived there alone because her parents died a long time ago. And, about five months ago, everyone who lived inside the mansion just disappeared, exept for the girl, Althought it seems that 'she was never the same' ."

"And, after that, people started to disappear..." Fay finished for me. "A Scary Master Macho told me that everyone avoid the place, so anyone know for sure if the girlis still alive or she disappeared Too."

"If what the elderly woman told me is correct," Fausto stated, "then the little girl's name was Angelina And her parents were the mayors of the village," Fayne and I watched him withdraw a small handwritten note and put it on the table. "Her parents died for some unknown reason about five years ago..."

"After all of this, police and detectives have tried to find some hint about the disappeared or murdered people, but they didn't find nothing or didn't return from the mansion." Fay concluded and looked to me. "Well, that is everything I have."

A silence falls under us. I didn't know what to do, so I grabbed my fork and took a bite of my pasta. It was still warm, and the tomato sauce covering the noodles made it taste delicious.

"So, will we go there tonight?" Fay was the one who broke the silence.

I looked up to see his face and considered his words for a moment. I then grabbed my pocket watch. "It is almost eight now; how many hours do we need to arrive to Berkeinn?" I asked casually, shoving my hands in my pant pockets.

"Four, if we hurry." Fausto answered, leaning his back against the chair. "Berkeinn is located past a small forest that is between the town we're in now called Kernell, and the village itself."

"It means we will arrive around ... midnight..." I muttered quietly. "We can give it a try."

"Isn't it better to wait until tomorrow morning?" Fausto suggested, but Fayne was the first to decline the suggestion because he wanted to finish the work.

The three of us decided to leave town and head to Berkeinn. After all, the sooner we finish the mission the better, right? To me, it didn't matter how fast or how slow we finished the mission, but for Fayne, time is something more important than money. Why? Simple; because the sooner he finishes his job, the sooner he will return to the Order and go to his favourite nap spot.

Pushing the thought aside, it's quite cold outside. I shivered when feeling the wind gently pass through me… and maybe it's just me, but for a second it seemed like it was murmuring something… which sounded strangely familiar to my name. I gulped. Or maybe the wind was reminding me of the fact that we're in the middle of winter, and ever since the seasons have changed, I haven't been feeling very well. That doesn't mean that I'm not healthy; what I mean to say is ... the bad dreams I had when I was child are returning, and have become much more frequent. As a result, I've been really nervous, anxious and feel many different types of mixed emotions I can't describe too well.

Maybe, it is the season, I decided. I read once in a book in the Order's library, that people change the same way the seasons and time does. If I remember correctly, winter is the season where things end. When spring, the next season arrives, it's the marker of a new beginning. If this is true, then these feelings of mine should end when the season changes, right?

I'm not too sure, though. Also, lately I've been feeling that something really big will change my life. Like maybe meeting new people, seeing new places, new air, new... memories.

My name is Leilah Fleuret. "Fleuret" isn't my real name; actually, it was given to me by Helena, which happens to be her surname. When I think about it, it has been fifteen years and six months since I was taken from my previous life and brought to the Order. It might sound strange, but I don't remember how it happened. All I remember is waking up inside the Black Order. After this, I have experienced many new things and have treasured them all from the bottom of my heart. I have changed and I know it. That's why, even if everything has the same ending to change, life taught me to accept any situation I'm placed into, and accept the changes it brings with it.

**~OoOoO~**

Following the instructions that Fausto gave, the three of us successfully reached the village –well, some Akumas attacked us inside the dense forest first, but we took care of them. Afterwards, we began to search everywhere for something that looked like a haunted mansion. It was around midnight when we arrived, and there wasn't anyone on the street and there weren't any lights coming from inside the houses, which made the village look twice as creepy. After glancing around and wandering for more than thirty minutes, we found the mansion. Well, looking at the tall building, it is not that difficult to say it is the one.

The mansion was surrounded by an enormous iron gate, which was a bit rusted. Stepping onto the property, there were several huge pots for outdoor plants that were either dead or broken. Looking at the tall building, there was some large windows with broken glass, and the walls had several cracks. The dark sky and the huge moon helped a lot to make the house look more a "haunted house" than a "haunted mansion".

"Fausto, it will be better if you wait for us here." I calmly ordered. "If we don't return until the morning, you will call the Order and search for us." I instructed with a fake smile. He didn't seem convinced. I pouted. "Hey, don't put that face on; we are stronger than we look!" I teasingly told him, landing a light punch on his right shoulder.

He chuckled nervously at my statement. "Please, be careful."

"We will." I assured him with a straight look. "Then, we are going." I waved to him, stepping in the mansion area while dragging Fayne along with me.

I felt a tad uneasy, but tried my best to hide it. When realizing that I was already in front of the house's wooden door and about to open it, something crossed my mind making me take a step back. "I was just wondering ... aren't boys the ones who are supposed to do this?"

Fay made a puzzled face. "They do?" He simply asked me, putting his hand on his chin like he was thinking hard. "Whatever, you are right in front of the door. Now open it." Quickly, I felt two hands pushing my back.

"I will, I will." I grumbled as I turned the knob and opened the door, which squeaked in the process.

Moonlight crept into the house, although it looked too timid to do so. The large window allowed light to enter, which illuminated the couches situated around the room, and highlighted the staircase, which was placed in the middle of the large and open room. The wooden floors were covered with a red carpet, filled with many holes and burnt marks. On the walls were several pictures and portraits hit by the moon's fading patches. There was even a chandelier set with candles in different shapes hanging from the ornate ceiling.

"It seems like nothing is threatening." The blond exorcist stepped inside, taking a place beside me. "Maybe the chandelier?" he pointed his index finger not sure if it was really dangerous.

"I bet not." I replied not paying much attention. "It is dirty."

"Then, maybe the dust?" he slid his finger on the couch nearest us, getting his finger filled with dirt. "At this rate, we will be part of the 'White Order'." He muttered, patting his finger.

I couldn't help but laugh, at seeing how annoyed he was with the dust particles staining his black uniform. "I think we found our enemy?" I inquired in a good mood.

"Sure, then we can return." He turned back and marched towards the open door.

"NO!" I yelled to him, furrowing my eyebrows. "We have to find out why people are disappearing here, Fayne. Say, do you suspect why they're vanishing?"

"Akumas," he responds expressionless. "You can take care of—"

"No." I snarled, stalking towards him. "Now, let's go further!" Grabbing his sleeve, I dragged him to the middle of the room but stopped when seeing two doors. "Which one would you choose, Fayne?" I asked, gulping.

"Me?" He pointed his index finger to his own face. I nodded in response. After a long thought, looking to the ceiling and stroking his cheek with his finger, he finally replied. "If it was me, I would choose the right."

"Right?" I blurted out not understanding the logistics behind his answer. "Usually people go to the left when they're lost, no?" I inquired with a curious tone. "So, why would you go to the right?"

He crossed his arms, looking straight at me. "Do you doubt my words?" Fayne questioned with a slight scowl.

"Nope. Just curious." I shrugged. "Well… I have my guts, and I would pick right too." I plainly told him, placing my hands on my hips. "But you thought a lot before answering, so I bet you have a good reason, no?"

"Ah, no, no…" He waved his hands from left to right quickly, almost like he was trying to deny something. And he was. "I couldn't find a good answer, so I picked a random one." He stated sincerely, making me feel stupid for believing him. I fell for his trap because Fayne usually isn't one to think so hard about something. He's quite "flighty" and lazy, truthfully speaking. "Although Leilah, if you want an intelligent reply..." He put his right hand to his chin, making his eyebrows come closer, which also caused deep lines to appear across his forehead. He looked like a serious old man. I stifled a laugh and awaited his response. "When people are lost, they usually go to the left. Then, we should go to right because ..."

My eyes were glued on his serious face; a false serious face actually. "Because ...?" I repeated.

"I don't know." The teen dropped his serious expression. "Well, I think it will end in your guts."

Truth be told, I was disappointed but the fault was mine to expect something from him. "Yeah, yeah… guts." I said aloud and walked in front towards the right door. "Are you prepared?" I turned my head back and saw Fayne nodding

Slowly, we made our way to the right door, and were surprised with what we saw before our eyes. It was a library filled with bookshelves, many of them stocked to the brim. The floor was half covered with books, and in the other corner of the room was a small reading area with one desk and a chair. On the desk were piles of forgotten books and what made me surprised: a candle with fire burning on it.

"Someone was here." I stated, darting my eyes to make sure that there wasn't anyone around.

"Hm ..." Fayne looked around. "No one is here." He stated firmly. "Well, it is just my feelings."

I sighed at his statement, thinking that it would be easier if he didn't say "my feeling" at the end. Still being cautious, I walked down the aisles filled with books and reached the wooden desk. There wasn't any open book, so I started to search for something that might prove useful. A bit more lazy and bored, Fayne does the same.

There was silence between us, as only the sounds of opening and closing books were echoing from time to time within the room. Wiping the dusty books, I picked up one that seemed interesting from the pile of forgotten books; it was a diary. I called out Fayne to get his attention and started to read the pink diary in my hands.

I opened the book and flipped through the pages until I found something. Luckily, my fingers stopped before a handwritten page. Studying the letters and spelling, I could tell that the person who wrote the note was a child still learning to write. Rolling my eyes on the page, I started to read aloud. "I am all alone in this house, where are Mama and Papa?" I turned to the next page. "I want to see them again, Papa and Mama." I flipped to more pages but every page had similar messages on it. The child who wrote in this diary really wanted to see their "Papa" and "Mama" again, I deduced. I soon reached the last page and sighed. "It ends here..." I muttered quietly showing my disappointment.

"Hmm..." Fay suddenly popped beside me, and took the diary from my hands. "What a horrible letter." He said frankly. "A girl lived here, right? Maybe ... it is her diary?"

I considered his statement. "Well, I can't deny the possibility." Still worried that someone was here, hesitantly, I opened my mouth. "Still ... something isn't right." I murmured as I snatched back the diary.

"Like what?" He asked me uninterested. "That is—"

I narrowed my eyes at him, like it was like a slow motion scene … when suddenly, a metallic hand appeared from nowhere behind Fayne and threw him towards the wall. After that, the scene went in normal speed, with my partner body hitting the wall, making some cracks form, as the sound of the wind spreading throughout the silent room greeted us.

_**"SHALL WE PLAY, MISS EXORCIST?"**_

_**Act III**_

_**End**_

_******~OoOoO~**_

_**Author's Corner ...**_

_**I saw a anonymous review and I am happy that you liked the story, so thank you a lot. (:**_

_**I am still open for votes about the pairings.**_

_**Do you want to see Leilah paired? Vote for LeilahxAllen, LeilahxLavi, LeilahxTykki or LeilahxNeah.**_

_**If you have other suggestion, please write a review and tell me.**_

_**Also, if you want to see Fayne paired with someone tell me. o/**_

_**Thanks for reading and please, REVIEW! (:**_


	5. Introduction Arc - Act IV:The night ends

**_Introduction Arc_**

**_Last Chapter_**

**_Act IV_**

**_And the night ends_**

**_Start_**

**__****~OoOoO~**

**_Hello, guys! First of all, I have to apologize for my long delay to write the chapter; school has stolen a good amount of my time and I have problems here and there to make this chapter good. Second, I have tried to study English in order to deliver for you guys, a better chapter than the other! I always feel nervous and hesitant before I post a chapter, because I always think that 'it isn't good', yet I always end up making the same thing._**

**_Well! Let's end the chat, shall we? Here is the last chapter of the Introduction Arc; in the next chapter everything will be smooth again and new characters will show their faces!_**

**_Also, thank you for the reviews! They always make me happy and help me a lot to grow as a writer! I have written small notes of thanks in the end of the chapter, so if you want or if you have reviewed, please take a look! Oh, about the pairing, it will be open for a little while longer because I haven't introduced the whole cast!_**

**_Thanks to everyone who gave my story a try, put it on their favourites or followed it!_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own D Gray Man! It belongs to our beloved Master Katsura Hoshino (I hope that she is okay ...). But Leilah, Fayne and Helena belongs to me!_**

**_If you are looking for the Canon Characters, they start to appear effectively after chapter 'IV' from this Arc._**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own D Gray Man! But I own my Oc._**

**_Story: PopCandysmiley_**

**_Edit: _****_TriforceandSheikahArts_**

**PLEASE, REVIEW!**

_******~OoOoO~**_

_**"Shall we play, Miss Exorcist?"**_

_**Keyword: Surprised**_

After the metallic hand hit Fayne making his back violently hit the wall, a great amount of dust, which previously lined every inch of the old library, filled the air making things a bit difficult to see. White dust particles danced all around making me want to sneeze. "Fay!" I called out his name, but as I expected there wasn't an answer. I took a step back and removed my gloves, shoving both them and the pocket size diary inside my pants pocket, which I buttoned up for security purposes.

"Who's there?" I demanded sharply as I was already prepared to activate my Innocence at anytime. "Again, who's there?" I repeated, watching as the air slowly cleared itself.

I waited, a little tensed, for an answer. "Hmm…" I huffed, and took a glance over my shoulders to see a large amount of white dust spread overtop my jacket. I brushed them off, sighing. "Is no one here?" I asked aloud, my eyes moving over my body to make sure it was clean and free of dust.

"If you don't mind, can you give me a hand?" A familiar, weak voice reached my ears, making me turn to face him. "Or ..." It paused for a moment – probably for dramatic effects. "You are that rude to just stand there and enjoy watching others struggle; especially like a certain wonderful person that is too scary – in your opinion – to remember his name?"

I sighed. "Your problem, not mine, Fayne," I replied to him coldly, as I closed my cerulean blue eyes for a moment, hoping that he would stand up. When he didn't however, he made me open an eye in his direction, rather angrily. "Wh-what is that face?" I asked, surprised.

Fayne stared at me with two round eyes – which reminded me of black dinner plates – and a bored expression, while his mouth settled in a fine, perfectly straight line. "You are horrible." He stated while a fake tear rolled down his cheek, and he started to whine nonstop. "I think I can't feel my legs. Oh, my God, I can't feel them! I won't be able to walk anymore. Oh my, Oh my. You are just horrible to leave like this. I can't feel anything; just loo—"

"—Right, right," I mumbled while I made my way towards him. "Seriously ..." I outstretched my hand to him, and he gladly took it. "You should be more careful, the Akuma could have killed you." I finished, pulling him onto his feet.

"Oh, this is right for sure." Fay opened his mouth and looked at me, this time mockingly. "Good people die earlier, so I will be killed soon for sure." He bluntly told me with a dull tone, placing a hand on his neck and back, wincing, actually hiding it in pain.

"Yeah, yeah…" I waved a dismissing hand towards his face, shutting my eyes in an attempt to ignore him. "Anyways, it seems like no one is here." I placed a hand on my waist, putting my weight to one leg. "It was strange, since 'it' just attacked you and then backed off."

He let a good amount of air escape his mouth in relief. "I call that lucky."

"Well, _we_ should leave here," I pointed to the near door with a thump. "Since _we_ found the enemy, _we_ just need to erase it. And, the _faster_ _we _finish, the _faster_ you will **sleep**." I told him, stressing the words 'we' words and 'faster', and placing special emphasis on 'sleep'.

"Right, come on. Hurry up!" Fayne promptly passed through the door in the blink of an eye and disappeared. "C'mon Leilah!" a voice called me childishly from the other side of the door.

I suppressed a laugh. It was so easy to convince him.

**~OoOoO~**

It was horrible… well, not that much, but it was like I was part of the cast of some horror movie. The wooden floors were covered with objects that reminded me of corpses, which were so badly rotten that you couldn't recognize them without a good close check. If you paid more attention to the black surfaces, you would even see that most of them were burnt, black, and dead. Some had even lost some bodily parts, which were scattered all over the floor.

"Can you at least shut your mouth?" Fayne snapped seeming a bit annoyed as he slightly furrowed a brow. "It is because of people like you, Leilah that spirits wake up in the first place."

I huffed as a small vein popped up on my forehead, "Oh, sorry if I can't see _that _… most people however can't, Fayne! Uhh!" I grumbled under my breath. "Can you at least pretend that you hear me?" I muttered to him.

"Shh!" he pressed a finger on my lips with a serious look that, for a moment I flinched and stayed quiet. "If you continue to bug around like that, you'll wake up and anger the spirits!" He told me in a very low but harsh voice.

"WHAT?!" I yelled at Fayne, who was now crouching beside me, cupping his hands around his ears to block any form of noise that could potentially bother him. "Sorry ..." I apologized, ashamed by my later behaviour; but hell, he was pleading with me to shut up.

Fayne opened his mouth to probably interrupt me, but he reconsidered his actions when cracking sounds took place inside the silent lounge. Shifting my head and darting my eyes viciously, trying to catch up the source of the sounds that got louder at each second that passed, my eyes evenly stopped on one of the bodies covering the ground. "There is something coming ..." I murmured, straightening myself and getting into my fighting stance. "THERE!" I gestured with my hand as I stepped forward, prepared for any sudden attack.

In a single second, scattered parts from random corners of the room started to gather in the center and connect with each other. Finally, the parts connected completely … forming a doll? Surprisingly, the doll wasn't ugly, given the fact that the burnt corpses were almost unrecognizable, since they were too charred to resemble anything human. Born from the blackened figures, the doll was striking with creamy delicate white skin, which reminded me of polished porcelain. She had long golden blond hair with curls on the end of its strands, a pair of bright blue glass eyes, and lips painted a deep red that contrasted lovingly with her white skin, and pink cheeks. Her dress was a deep red – which reminded me of the colour of blood – and was covered with red roses, that also managed to hide a good amount of her fragile looking body. On the top of her head was a small hat that was the same colour as her dress, which was also decorated with many laces and frills.

"GOOD!" Fayne stood up while clapping his hands. "YOU REALLY WOKE UP THE SPIRITS!" He said while shooting me, what I think was an expression that could easily freeze someone in their tracks … preferably, okay, maybe only Komui. "Now, exorcise it." He pushed me from behind.

"But I don't have any ideas about 'how to exorcise a doll'!" I exclaimed while I put my weight on my back, trying to stop his incessant pushes.

He sighed and removed his hands from my back nearly making me fall backwards. "You are more hopeless than I thought." Fayne remarked sincerely and slightly disappointed at the same time, making me suppress an overwhelming urge to slam his head into the nearest wall. "But since it is cursed, we need to stop it." Stretching his arms and yawning, he met my eyes with a straight unusual stare. "You don't need to take a curse, no?"

"Of course not, Fayne!" I screamed with a smile on my face before feeling something tingling in my arms which soon reached the tips of my fingers. It started off with small sparks of green light that quickly started to flicker and disappear continuously, before finally turning visible and changing colours to become a bright eye-catching blue, which shimmered with multiple ripples of electrifying dark navy energy. "Have something on your mind?!" I asked him as I charged towards the doll with my steel-like gauntlet pointed to the enemy.

The doll abruptly turned her neck in my direction. "Too slow!" I yelled, but I stopped in the middle of my attempt to land a solid punch in its stomach before deciding to change my course of action. With several back flips and handsprings, I reached the wall beside me, grinning. "Here's another one." I bit my lips with a scowl; in response, Fayne huffed, resting his elbows on his knees, staring at the floor.

Just then, another doll appeared. Akin to the first, the second doll was a mirror double of the first, but instead of wearing a bloody red dress, she had on a white coloured dress with roses hanging all around her body. The two dolls stared each other for a moment until both of them launched towards me in opposite directions, making me jump and perform a spin kick towards the red dressed doll, which she escaped with mere seconds to spare. Behind me appeared the white dressed doll; I evenly spun around to land a solid kick on her waist, sending her flying a few good feet away from me.

Then, the latter that dodged my spin kick, stood up with a large fist aimed at my chin. I evaded the attack by crouching downwards and swinging my right leg to kick her straight in the face. However, the doll seemed to have anticipated my attack, and jumped – she jumped much higher than a**normal **doll would – and landed solidly on her feet. Looking around, I lost sight of the second doll.

"Where ..." I desperately tried to find the doll, but failed. Yet, I soon sensed something above me. I looked up, and to my utter surprise, it was the white doll twirling in midair. Heck, she was even using the roses attached to her dress as a weapon! I watched, stunned, as she threw them at me like knives, which illuminated in the cold moonlight, actually looked quite angelic… until I noticed that they were aimed directly for my head!

Thinking fast, the first thing that crossed my mind was to evade the sharp looking flowers, but I soon realized that no matter how fast I could be, it was impossible to dodge them all. The second option was to run, but that wasn't the best of ideas since the flowers were already close to reaching me. Just then, one rose had pierced my cheek; even though it was only a minor flesh wound, the sharpness of the flower's edges was enough to withdraw a significant amount of blood. As a final effort, I placed my arms forward, making a cross in front of my face, not once closing my cerulean eyes in order to desperately search for a blind spot within the enemy's attack.

Suddenly, I could hear several drones of violin echoing inside the room and spreading through it. Looking to Fayne's direction, I spotted him holding his violin between his shoulder and his steeply raked chin, his eyes closed. He pressed the glowing green strings, and soon warm, soft sounds filled the air. "Strings of God ..." He muttered, and after taking a good breath, he shouted ordering his weapon to activate. "RESOUND: GLASS MELODY!"

At the same time, a giant blinding light formed above my head making the shape of a huge circle that resembled a transparent crystal. The crystal reflected the multiple colours of the rainbow, and managed to protect me from obtaining any further injuries from the dolls persistent flower based attacks. Deciding to take advantage of the 'barrier' made by Fayne's violin, his Anti-Akuma Weapon, 'String of God', I jumped backwards to his side right before his 'barrier' broke and shattered into many small shards… which were not surprisingly filled with many rose petals.

"Thanks." I muttered quietly. "I-I was careless." I clenched my teeth, clearly regretting my actions. Fayne didn't move from his spot beside me, but didn't bother to look at me either. Taking slow deep breaths, I quickly examined myself, and noticed that my right arm had a major gash which was bleeding heavily. Luckily, the rest of my body was only covered in minor cuts and scratches. I ran a hand through my hair, shoved my other hand into my pocket, pulled out a black ribbon and quickly tied back my hair. "Y-you discover something?" I asked, wheezing.

"Do you realize their moves?" Fayne spoke in his usual dull tone, "They only attack when they sense some type of danger, and their moves are, how I can say it … the cracking sounds coming from them reminds me of something … but I can't remember 'what' exactly it reminds me of."

I placed a hand on my chin and tried to connect the dots. Lips pursed together, my eyes wandered over the two still dolls. As I stood quietly, I started to hear the cracking sound that the bodies made every time they both moved. Although dull and quiet, it was faintly heard when fighting; but now, I could hear the sounds perfectly. Then, it hit me.

"Marionettes ..." I thought aloud.

"Ahh!" noted Fayne, but before he could continue his little speech about what he thought, one of the dolls grabbed a large piece of glass and threw it towards him. He dodged the sudden hostile movement by only moving his head slightly to the side.

I rolled my eyes and ran towards the black dressed doll, which was holding another shard, only to find the white dressed doll ready to attack me from behind. This time, I let myself fall in the last second but before reaching sudden impact, I placed my bare hands to the floor, performed a solid back flip kick, and managed to successfully hit the doll and the shard it was holding. The shard went flying into midair, heading away from both Fayne and myself. Grinning, I stopped right before the white doll only to watch in shock at it removed another large shard, which it seemed intent on sending straight into my skull! Not wasting a second, I managed to grab the doll's large hand and plant a powerful punch straight into its glass blue eyes with my free hand. In the process, the doll got electrocuted and fell on the ground, returning to the blackened, dead figure that it was originally.

And, with the other doll, who was then continually charging towards me, I took care of it with several jabs, kicks, back flips, punches and more kicks. Dodging a series of attacks, I managed to knee her right in the middle of her stomach and send a good punch straight to her face before she tried to grab me by the collar. Its skin crackled and started to fall to the floor. I landed safely a few good feet away.

Clapping sounds were then heard throughout the room. I turned to see its source. "Wow~" Fay dropped his jaw a few inches, still clapping. "No matter how many times I see you, I always get surprised by your violence." I huffed, annoyed, as he stood up. "Are we done? It ended much faster than I expected." He glanced around the room before marching towards the remaining doll, jumping back. "Creepy!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air, nearly dropping his violin and bow in the process. "The doll is possessed!" From the burnt part, a hand raised grabbed Fayne's ankle. He managed to shake the hand off, yet made a bunch of gestures that started to make my stomach churn with worry.

"Go away, go away, and return to the ground ..." He muttered in a dark tone.

I face palmed as a bit of concern kicked my head. "Fayne ..." I worriedly called his name in a pitiful tone, "I think you are _finally_ getting cranky ..."

"I am not cranky! I am only trying to exorcise it!" He explained like it was the most obvious answer in the world. He then stood up and turned to face me. "I can't remember the right moves and this thing is making it difficult!" He placed his violin forward to make things clearer – though it did little to help in actuality.

I scowled and was ready to yell, but the doll that he shook off was preparing to tackle him. Quick as lightning, or whatever, quickly, I jumped to send a flying kick square at the doll's head.

"ARE YOU SURE THAT HITTING ME IS THE BEST IDEA?!" Fayne screamed frantically, crouching with his hands on his head while I smirked.

"CLEAN HIT!" I announced when my feet met the porcelain face and smacked it directly to the ground. "You okay?" I spun around on my heel to look at Fayne. He was horrified and put a hand to his chest, verifying that his heart was still beating. When he seemed satisfied, he shifted his blonde head upwards and shot me an intense glare.

"I thought that you were going to kill me." He stated with a slight scowl. "This fragile heart of mine can't stand so much action." He looked at me with puppy eyes.

I turned my back to him coldly and glanced at the body that, surprisingly, recovered itself again. The same thing happened to the other doll; and here we are: again with two bodies to fight.

"Tch," I snorted, "If this keeps happening, we will be in trouble." I balled my hands into fists before something caught my attention; both dolls had pentacles atop their beautiful foreheads. "A Pentacle?!" I gasped in awe. "Fay, they're Akumas?!"

"I bet you're right." He reasoned. "When you attacked it with your Anti-Akuma weapon, it made some damage, and now ... those pentacles appeared."

"But, shouldn't they have been destroyed by this?" I looked confused at my steel stone-like hands. "And, I am sure that I didn't hold back; I attacked them with all my force."

"Hmm ..." He closed his eyes, this time looking really bored and tired. "What if they are being controlled by a third person? What do you think?"

"It is possible." I admitted, biting my lip. "But where is the puppeteer then?"

**"HERE, EXORCIST!"** My eyes widened at the voice behind me and I promptly kicked the 'thing' behind me, missing it by a few inches. **"THAT WAS CLOSE!" **The high-pitched voice mocked and giggled, grating my nerves even further. Fuelled by anger, I turned around prepared to face it, before noticing something: I couldn't see it. The 'thing' however, seemed to notice that, too. **"OH, YOU CAN'T SEE ME AT ALL?! SURE, SURE, I WILL SHOW YOU MYSELF!" **The voice said somewhat proudly before a strange figure appeared before us.

My mouth widened. I couldn't describe the figure in a single word; it was both gorgeous and creepy. I carefully analyzed each detail of the creature, starting from its foot, where I saw a long maroon coloured mantle that almost covered its entire body. It also had on white gloves and wore a mask that covered half of its face that curved downwards from the eyes, and was painted an inky black coloured, which made it look like the figure was smiling. Its pale skin was also quite eerie looking, but helped reinforce its… overall creepy appearance. I shuddered.

"A clown?" Fayne muttered a bit unsure, "Or maybe … a soul reaper?" He shook his head. "Nonetheless, that thing is ugly."

The figure barked. **"FOR SURE YOU HAVE A GOOD TASTE FOR HUMOUR, EXORCIST … BUT MAYBE YOU OBTAINED THAT HUMOUR FROM THOSE HARD HITS I DELIVERED!"**

Fayne just blinked at the statement of the strange ... I will call that _thing_ a clown, until he finally realized something. "Ohh!" he realized, "You are the creepy thing that made me kiss the wall with my head." He scratched his head. "Man that had really hurt."

"**AND THIS TIME, I WILL MAKE SURE TO KILL YOU ..."** The clown shot me a glare, making me have a really bad feeling run through my body. **"AND THAT GIRL, TOO!"** Hepointed a finger at me and placed two hands forward, which I then noticed he had small wires tied to his fingers. **"GO, MY MARIONETTES! GO AND KILL THESE TWO EXORCISTS' WITH YOUR BULLETS!"**

Fayne and I jumped to opposite sides of the room as a bunch of bullets – the dangerous and poisonous ones, I assumed – came from the marionettes mouths and hit the floor, making a huge hole. Smoke filled the air causing Fayne to cough. Luckily however, I was safe from the smoke's effects since I was a Parasitic-Type Exorcist ... that meant that my lungs wouldn't be affected by the smoke. Woohoo! I darted towards the puppeteer and tried to land a punch.

"LIGHTNING PALM!" I yelled and let out a hearty battle cry, while my right hand, full of electric sparks, hit the enemy straight in the chest. "Huh?" Prepared to see the enemy fall over, I stared, stunned, as nothing happened … no reaction whatsoever.

Hearing the amused chuckles of the clown, I planted my hands to the floor, letting my weight fall onto my shoulders. Impulsively, I delivered a series of kicks towards the enemy's head and ended up failing miserably. See, when I was in midair, one marionette had struck from above and landed overtop of my stomach making me collide with the cold and dirty floor. I exhaled loudly, my vision turning red, when suddenly the other doll had grabbed me by the neck. I could see my vision turning blurry, and felt my heart pounding rapidly. In a desperate attempt to save myself, I had somehow managed to take a tight grab on the doll's arm that was holding my neck, kick it with my left leg and free myself.

I rolled some feet away from both dolls until I collided back first with a couch. Cough after cough escaped my mouth as small puddles of blood covered the floor and my clothes. My vision was still blurry, but I didn't have enough time to recover, as one of the marionettes charged, sending another punch at my head making it bleed even further. After the second punch I was barely able to avoid rolling on the floor while grimacing and clutching my wound.

**"I FORGOT TO TELL YOU, EXORCIST** **..."** I could barely see the figure that stood in front of me; it was the puppeteer, who mockingly placed his foot on my belly and stomped on it, merciless, making me groan in pain, as I watched the figure turn to mist. **"I DON'T HAVE AN ACTUAL PHYSICAL BODY, SO YOUR ATTACKS CAN'T HURT ME!"**

**_Yup, I will die here._**

I stared at the figure in silence as it prepared to finish me off. I waited for the attack but nothing came. Slowly, I opened my eyes as I heard, again, Fayne's violin melody. That time, the notes were different; it was more piercing with furious and sharp strident notes. "String of God!" Fayne had finally finished the song and released his bow. I watched as several crystal-like balls started to fall from the sky. "RESOUND, CRIMSON MELODY!"

I smiled at the scene; at least we were able to finish the mission. **"WHAT IS THAT?!"** Several red sharpened things that resembled an iron pole sprouted from inside the Akuma and its marionettes, piercing them straight through their stomachs. **"HOW?! HOW?! HOW?!"** The puppeteer got very angry as some blood tears ran down from his eyes. Filled with anger and hate, it turned to Fayne and launched itself at him. **"I WILL KILL YOU, EXORCIST!"**

Fayne gulped and bitterly bit his lips. "You can still move after that ...?"

A strange urge of 'killing the Akuma' took control of me; my hands seemed like they were moving by themselves. Semi-unconscious, I was only partially aware of the fact that my hands were pulling my entire body forward, ignoring the sharp cries that the rest of my body exuded. With each inch I moved, I felt a powerful force bubbling deep inside the pit of my stomach. That bubbling rage seemed to stem from the very Akuma I aimed to destroy. Die, Akuma!

"**YOU!"** the Akuma turned its head angrily, as the mask it was wearing started to fall.

"The game," I panted, my legs still wobbly as my hands didn't stop moving, "is over!" I finished my phrase and pulled my hands back to my side as I allowed myself and the floating head to fall. "Sorry." My eyes, now shadowed by my bangs, covered my face when I saw the mask leaving the clown's visage to reveal an entirely blackened, bloodied and sorrowful expression.

I eyed the destroyed Akuma before me, dually noting that it seemed to retain some form of consciousness. It started to laugh while staring at the decaying ceiling. **"How horrible this situation … when I woke up again, I was almost trapped inside that body and nothing was like the way I remembered …" **It coughed, staining the floor with dark red: blood. **"I have to hate. I have to kill. It was only that ..."**

"So ..." Fayne crouched beside the enemy's head, his steps touching the bloody floor. "You don't remember anything from before you got like _this_?" He casually asked, pointing to its body.

**"I didn't ..."** The Akuma's breathing was getting heavier as more blood escaped its lips. **"But …" **it remarked, almost tearing up, **"when I turned into a level two, I remembered that I had someone really important to me; a girl ... But no matter how hard I tried to remember her name, I wasn't able to ..." **Finally, the coughs subsided, as the Akuma's breathing worsened, slowly dying down.

It took some seconds for me to finally realize 'who' the Akuma wanted to remember but couldn't. "Her name was—" I was cut off when seeing lines running overtop the enemy's body. Those small lines quickly began to crack, evenly breaking into small fragments like the cold sand of the beach when it was nighttime.

"Her name was Angelina ..." I whispered as the first morning light passed through the broken glass from the window above, illuminating me and making Fay clearly see my hands clenching. Those clenched hands, combined with my long fingernails, were enough to draw blood. Tears then lined my eyes. I bit my bottom lip and wondered: **_Why do I feel so sad?!_** Yet the feelings of emptiness and sorrow didn't leave me, just as the tears didn't stop by themselves.

**_"Angelina was her name!"_**

**_Act IV_**

**_End_**

**__****~OoOoO~**

**_Next chapter ..._**

"Fayne, Kanda, I need to send the two of you on a mission." Komui finally spoke and nervously took a sip of his coffee in his awful pink rabbit mug. "So ..." He looked towards me, Fayne and Kanda individually. "Are there any objections?"

There was an awful silence between us. I hesitantly took a glance on Kanda, who was stood on my right side, he had on his usual scowl, and his eyes were closed. "Kanda?" I called his name; he took one large breath and opened his mouth.

"LIKE HELL I WILL GO ON A MISSION WITH THIS SLOTH!" The samurai shouted while pointing an accusatory finger at Fayne's face, who just yawned, making Kanda a bit more upset. "I WON'T GO ON A MISSION WITH THAT THING, NEVER! HE CAN'T DO ANYTHING AND HE JUST GETS IN THE WAY!"

I shifted a little from my spot, uncomfortable, since I was in the middle of the beginning of a war between the two boys and at anytime, the long haired exorcist could drag his sword to _my_ neck.

"No way, Supervisor," Fayne interjected, raising his hand and catching everyone's attention due to his usual, dull and deadpanned tone. "I don't like him at all."

Kanda and I blinked for some time, until he plopped himself down onto the velvet couch behind me with a smirk. The Supervisor just showed us his back as he moved the stacks of paper from place to place. Personally, I bet he was just trying to get out from the problem … not that I can blame him.

Taking advantage of the newfound silence, Fayne cleared his throat and shot a glance at the Japanese exorcist on the velvet couch. "Just look at him, Supervisor; he is bad tempered with a bad personality, and has stupid long hair that makes him look like a girl and—" Fayne suddenly stopped as a black figure attacked him with a sharp sword. The figure, that happened to be Kanda, pointed his sword at Fayne's neck with a dark smile and evil eyes. After gasping and gulping, Fayne did the best thing he could think of – he waved his arms in front of his face and laughed, "Just kidding, just kidding, Supervisor ..."

* * *

**_Author's Corner_**

**_TriforceandSheikahArts: as everyone probably knows, she is my Beta Reader, so a good part of my story is thanks to her hard work on editing my chapters. If you want to see more of her work, search for her penname and have a good time reading her stories! Thanks for always supporting me. Although you always read the chapter before everyone, it really makes me happy when you review the chapter. ((:_**

**_No. 7: Haha, thanks! I hope that you liked the chapter and continue reviewing; you don't know how it can help me out! Hope you liked this chapter too. (:_**

**_Someone: a love triangle would be very fun! Haha, I will think about it. (: I have already added your vote, so don't worry! I am glad that you liked my OC's; I will keep on trying to develop them too! I hope you liked this chapter._**

**_Anonymous: Cross and Leilah would be a VERY unusual pairing! Haha, maybe if it was Helena and Cross. XD Thanks for voting for a pairing, I appreciate it. (: Oh, the picture of the story is a quickly design made by me and my friends. When the pairing gets settled, I will change it again. I will try my hardest to make a good picture. (:_**

**_Kit: thanks for voting, I really appreciate it and it makes me happy to know that you liked the story! I will keep trying to get this story better, so please, continue reading and reviewing the oncoming chapters! (:_**

**_Dazzling Flame: your review really made me happy! Since you weren't an anonymous review, I sent you a PM, if you have time, please read it. Thanks for reviewing and I hope you liked that chapter. (:_**

**_So, just to end it like always ..._**

**_Please, review! You don't know how it helps me out to develop my story and give me more eager to write new chapters! If you like the story, please favourite and follow!_**

**_The voting for a pairing is still open!_**

**_LeilahxAllen_**

**_LeilahxLavi_**

**_LeilahxTykixAllen_**

**_LeilahxTyki_**

**_LeilahxNeah_**

**_If you want to see Fayne paired with someone, you can also tell letting a review!_**

**_Again, thanks and until the next chapter! I hope you all liked it! REVIEW!_**


	6. End Of Introduction Arc - Act V: Home

_**End of Introduction Arc**_

_**The Vampire of the Castle Arc**_

_**Act V**_

_**Home not sweet home**_

_**Start**_

_****__******~OoOoO~**_

_**Hello guys! Here is another update for you! I hope you like it!**_

_**P.S: For everyone who reviewed my story, I have a reply for you at the end of the chapter. Please take a look!**_

**_INTRODUCTION OF CANON CHARACTER IN THIS CHAPTER!_**

**____****Disclaimer: I do not own the D. Gray Man characters, plot, and everything else about it; it belongs to Master Katsura Hoshino. But I do own my OC's.**

**_Story: PopCandysmiley_**

**_Edit: _****_TriforceandSheikahArts_**

_**PLEASE REVIEW! You guys don't have any idea how much it makes me smile, and grow as a writer!**_

_****__******~OoOoO~**_

_**Keyword: boredom.**_

Today I woke up sooner then I had planned to. It was strange how my eyes suddenly snapped open, and I felt this sudden urge to wake up. Stretching in bed, I directed my hazy vision onto the bag that was lying right beside the door. _Ah,_ _I_ _remember now_, I thought to myself. _I had returned to the Order after having_ _finished my mission. _It had taken us almost one week to return home. After we defeated the enemy, and stated that there weren't any survivors found or Innocence discovered in Berkeinn, the three of us decided to return home; but we couldn't leave for some time since the town's single railway had gotten destroyed in an Akuma attack, and would take a few days to be repaired. Since we couldn't afford to wait around, we had travelled to the next town and boarded a train there to return to the Order. And that's about it. Here we are now. I stretched again, and moved my head to the side.

"Let's see what time it is ..." Lazily, I sat up and reached for the clock on my bedside table. "Leilah, go back to sleep." I dropped the clock and fell back into bed. It was only three. _I have plenty of time to sleep,_ I decided.

I rolled for some time in my bed while dragging the crochet-made blanket along with me. Groaning, I hugged one of my pillows close and buried my face deep into it. Some minutes past before I needed to come back up for air – huffing and puffing I might add – as I stared at my room's ornate black ceiling. "I'm bored." I sighed and furrowed my brows together, creating several small wrinkles around my forehead. And, of course, I sighed again.

"Hmm ..." I heard a quiet huff from the other side of my door. "Are you there, Leilah?" The muffled voice asked in a very low pitch. If I hadn't been as bored as I was now, I wouldn't have heard each word articulated as clearly as I had. "I guess she's probably asleep right now." The male voice sighed, before I could hear footsteps leaving my door.

Still in my pyjamas that consisted of tight black shorts and an oversized red T-shirt, I pulled myself out of my now-not-so-comfortable-bed and turned the knob open, catching the man's attention. "Chief Reever?" I asked a bit unsure if it was him, but judging by his unmistakable sandy blond, all messed up and spiky, I knew it was him.

"Oh, Leilah." He turned to face me. "Sorry if I woke you." Reever said with an apologetic smile while he rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's fine." I responded, not caring that my feet were bare. "Actually, I was suffering from a big illness called boredom." I stated bluntly, placing a hand on my waist. "So, is there something that I can help you with?"

"Well..." He began, trying to find the right words, "I know that you just arrived from your mission with Fayne, but ..." Shaking his head, he finally met my gaze and spoke up, "it's about Doctor Helena."

I face palmed, not mentally, but literally. "Did she ...?" Right before I could finish my question, Reever gave me confirming sigh as he closed his eyes in dismay.

_******~OoOoO~**_

When we arrived to the Science Division, I couldn't help but laugh at the scene before my eyes. The room was quite large with several desks stacked to the brim with tons of paperwork and there were enormous bookshelves that almost covered the entire wall. The space kind of reminded me of Supervisor Komui's room, which is was disorganized, it's uncanny. I have trouble believing he calls that his office. There's not one paper-free spot within his whole "office" except for a small counter to make coffee, and another spot where he puts several objects he happens to lose quite often.

"COME ON, JOHNNY!" A woman yelled out of nowhere catching my attention. She hiccupped between each word, "JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE!" She raised a hand that held a bottle of wine. I looked closer, and noticed the label was 'Romaneé-Conti.' I chuckled nervously when I realized the woman was Helena, who was atop of Johnny, an unlucky scientist, taunting him evilly while having him turn the wine bottle open with his mouth.

"I-I CAN'T!" Johnny screamed and tried to get her off by placing a hand on her shoulders. "I'M REALLY, REALLY SORRY, DOCTOR HELENA!" He apologized before pushing the drunken woman to the side, which made his headphone fall from his neck, while he lumbered towards Reever and me. I could see tears of relief overflowing from his eyes. "Chief Reever, Leilah!" He called and took off his big glasses to wipe his eyes. "You came!"

"Seems like she's having fun," I stated plainly, and walked towards Helena's lying state. I rolled my eyes at her and sighed. She looked horrible; half of her lab coat had fallen off her shoulders exposing her pantone red dress, and her sweaty brown hair clung to her skin like it was glued on. "Helena, you don't know how shameful you—" I was cut off before I could finish my sentence; since Helena looked up at me with her "evil drunk eyes" making me gulp. I tried to back away, but she grabbed me by the foot making me fall not so gracefully onto the stone floor.

"DEAR LEILAH!" She shouted and tackled me, nearly knocking the breath right out of me. I struggled to free myself, but managed to do so. "ARE YOU LEAVING ME, LEILAH?" She hiccupped, though it sounded more like she was scolding me. Plus, those glaring eyes seriously weren't helping. "DON'T TRY TO STOP ME, YOU KID, KID, KID! YOU ARE TEN HUNDRED MILLION YEARS TOO LATE TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"

I sighed. "Helena, I think you overdid it this time..."

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, YOU UNGRATEFUL GIRL?!" She continued with her words tumbling from her wine red painted lips, making her face turn into a deep scowl. Again, I backed away but she pushed me down to the ground. "I CAN HANDLE ALCOHOL BETTER THAN EVERYONE HERE!"

Several veins appeared on my forehead, as I shifted my head to look in the direction of Johnny and Reever. The two merely shrugged and offered me apologetic expressions. I hissed, frustrated. "HELENA, IF YOU DON'T ANSWER ME NOW, YOU WILL NEVER, EVER, HAVE THOSE BOTTLES, OKAY?!" I snapped out my frustrated stupor and managed to free myself, taking her bottle in the process.

With a laugh, I stood up and held the bottle. "YOU SEE THESE THINGS?!" I taunted her. "NEVER! EVER! AGAIN!" I turned around to show the guys the bottle; they grinned smugly.

"LIKE I WOULD—" Helena exclaimed with a slight hint of anger and disgust in her voice; but before she could finish her sentence, her feet stumbled forward on Johnny's fallen headphones and she launched her head onto my back.

Surprised by the incoming attack, I threw my arms skyward as I felt something slip from my hand. _Something?_I gulped when my gaze found an object falling in midair … which happened to be the bottle … smashing as it hit the ground. Reever slapped his forehead with the back of his palm. Johnny stared, his mouth half open. I stayed silent. And, Helena … well, she screamed. Loudly.

_"__**AAAAAAAAAH!"**_

_******~OoOoO~**_

Again, I was here, a prisoner of my own room due to this incredible and persistent boredom I was forced to endure … Okay, forced might seem a tad too strong to define my situation, but I prefer to stay inside my room and die from boredom than having my back smacked onto the stone floor or being tackled. After all that had happened in the Science Division, Helena had finally fallen asleep, and let me and Reever carry her to her room. Thank God she was unconscious then; I don't think I would have been able to handle her anymore had she been awake. Then after a quick apology to the Science Division, I cleaned up the mess I made, and made a fresh pot of coffee upon the insistence that the guys get some sleep. They might be scientists – nerdy scientists I must admit – but they're still human, and they need their rest, too.

I looked at my bedside table again, it was nearly six. Barely any time had passed. Deciding to form a fetal position despite my ever-growing boredom, I rocked back and forth on my bed, while blowing at a persistent lock of hair that didn't seem to want to stay still. Just then, my stomach growled. I grinned happily; finally, I had something to do. "I can eat to the pass time!" I laughed to myself. Taking a quick shower, I rushed downstairs in a fresh exorcist uniform while humming a cheerful tune, deciding on what to order.

"My, my, Leilah!" I spun around nearly bumping into Jerry, the Order's Head Chef. "Welcome Home!" He chirped with a warm smile. "Leilah ..." He stopped talking to place a hand on my head, "you should at least brush your hair after taking a shower!"

"I'm back, Jerry," I smiled and started to run a hand through my wet hair. "Sorry, I'll try to remember for next time." I apologized shyly.

"Remember, dear," he placed his finger to my cheek, "a girl's hair is her most important feature, okay?" I just nodded as he smiled smugly. "You're hungry, right?" Jerry passed me and entered the cafeteria. "Come here, I'll make anything you want!" Then, he gestured me to follow him.

Jerry was already settled behind his counter and looked, in some way, excited to what I would eat for now. After some minutes, I finally settled on what I wanted and placed my order. "I want two chocolate cakes, five Panini hams, and a good cup of coffee, please!"

"One minute, sweetie!" Jerry soon left the counter and started to cook with such velocity that it was difficult to follow his movements. Time soon passed and the cafeteria's empty tables were filling up quickly with scientists, finders and some exorcists. Soon enough, there was a line up behind me filled with some guys I already knew.

"Hey!" Someone raised his hand and started to wave. "Long time no see!" In the middle of the line was Lavi, another exorcist. He had fiery red hair held up by a green and white headband, and a single emerald eye, as his other eye was covered by an eye patch. His uniform consisted of a long jacket with tight pants and an orange scarf. "How was your mission, Leilah?"

"Lavi!" I waved back to greet him, as I took a plate that Jerry had placed on the counter beside me. Before leaving my spot, I quickly thanked him for my breakfast, and walked towards Lavi, who was still waiting in line. "My mission was okay, even with Fayne trying to slack off on his duties."

"By the way Leilah, can you answer a question of mine?"

"Sure, Lavi, what is it?"

He grinned and leaned in closer. I could feel his breath on my skin. I shuddered partially. "When I was in the library sleep—I mean, working," he corrected himself, making me roll my eyes, "I heard some screams and something falling onto the floor; it sounded like shattering glass. Do you happen to know what happened?" His grin worsened, and his single eye shimmered with mischief making me cringe and back away.

"Why are you asking me that, let alone looking at me like that?!" I snapped nervously as I turned my back to him and tried to escape, but Lavi stepped in front of me before I could leave. "Hey, isn't that, Fayne?" He questioned, making me turn around.

"Huh?"

Fayne stood stiller than stone for several seconds. "I don't know." He mumbled for no apparent reason. "It's just a habit, you know?"

Lavi blinked, perplexed. "Fayne, what the heck are you talking about?" Meanwhile, I used the time to find a place to sit. Lavi and Fayne were soon behind me after having placed their orders with Jerry, while I had been scouting for a table. The two then joined me at the table, and I told them what happened involving Reever, Johnny, Helena and the wine bottle. The story earned me several mocks and snide comments from Fayne, and a burst of laughter from Lavi, who had a hard time cracking up and not letting his food fly off the table in the process.

"Doctor Helena sure is amazing!" Lavi stated, chuckling. "But I have to admit, she doesn't have the _looks_ to do such things." He took a big bite out of his meat and vegetable sandwich. "What's up, Fayne?" He asked cheerfully to the other teen who was giving him a strange look.

"I was just wondering ..." Fayne opened his mouth while he placed the silver soup spoon beside his bowl of bean soup. "Who are you?"

"W-what type of question is that?!" Lavi shouted in dismay and shock. "Fayne, I'm Lavi, you know? Lavi Bookman! The Next Bookman!" He slammed his hands on the table, flabbergasted, but as expected, the blonde exorcist did nothing but blink.

_I pursed my lips. __Ah. That's right, __I thought. __Lavi is currently training to be a Bookman. __Though I didn't know much about 'Bookmen' in general, from what I learned, the clan dedicated themselves to recording the history of war, and gathering and storing information in secret locations. __They know __everything __about the world, from the smallest of things to the biggest of things; it includes everything from people, to places and wars, and, well, everything! __But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Lavi didn't seem to fit the "stereotypes" of Bookman—mind you, I was only basing my thoughts off what I observed from the actual Bookman, Bookman. __Lavi's way too energetic and likes to pull way too many pranks._

"Shut up you Stupid Rabbit!" A voice that oozed with bloodlust and disgust interrupted Lavi from his whining. The three of us looked directly to the voice's owner.

"Yu!" cheered Lavi.

"Kanda …" I nodded.

In response, he sneered. "Don't look at me with those stupid faces, Sloth, Monkey, and Idiotic Rabbit."

_I sighed. __Good old Kanda; another Exorcist of the Order. He's older than me, is Japanese, and his traits include: rudeness, violence, a bad mouth, a temper, and a glare that could even freeze an Akuma in its tracks. __I snickered. __He's got long black hair and either smirks or scowls at anyone … he will literally__cut you apart if you don't watch your mouth around him …._

Kanda then seemed to realize something. "Idiotic Rabbit, what did you call me?!" He withdrew his sword, Mugen, and pressed it directly to Lavi's neck. Lavi inched back nearly falling off the bench. "Don't be that mad, Yu—" Now he really looked like a rabbit—I swear I saw bunny ears popping out from his head.

"I TOLD YOU TO NOT CALL ME THAT!" He groaned loudly before he shot me a dangerous glare. "What are you looking?" He asked with a deep scowl on his face.

I tried to respond to him in a very sardonic way, but Fayne cut me off. "I was just wondering who we have here." He took a quick sip of his water. "Isn't it Master Kanda?" He stated the 'Master' thing a bit too sarcastically. Kanda didn't move from his spot and shot Fayne an 'I will kill you' look. "And I was thinking ... why does that 'strange person' there,"—he pointed a disinterested finger to Lavi's face, who looked defeated as several arrows randomly pierced his back—"always calls you by that name …."

"Ah!" Lavi suddenly stood up, beaming with a teasing smile. "Didn't I tell you?" He asked a bit too proudly. "That is because**Yu **is Kanda's first name. **You **see, isn't that funny, **Yu**?" The stupid rabbit pointed both of his index fingers in Kanda's direction with a childish grin.

Face palming; I took a quick glance at Kanda's face, which had darkened because of his lowered head, and his bangs covering a good part of his face. Suddenly, I heard the sound of teeth grinding; it had to be Kanda. "You are oozing with bloodlust, Kanda." I told him calmly, while setting my eagerness aside to run away and not die with the Rabbit; yet the samurai didn't move an inch from his current place, making me swallow hard.

"Lavi, you're dead." I stated to the redhead, whose face was quite pale. "But I haven't told you this before; you're a horrible joke maker." Quickly, I got up and left the table with my dishes in hand, fleeing from the soon-to-be war zone.

"Help?" asked Lavi, which he directed at Fayne and me. Fayne looked away, mumbling to himself. When Lavi's eye reached me, I was already far enough away just to give him an 'okay' sign with my thumb. His jaw dropped. "NO WAY!" He yelled in dismay as a fake tear rolled down his cheek. "YOU'RE ALL BAD PEOPLE! I ALWAYS KNEW IT! YOU PEOPLE AND YOUR ICED HEARTS!"

"Any last words, stupid rabbit?" snarled Kanda. He really seemed to be enjoying this, what with his evil smirk and sparkling eyes. He dragged his sword along Lavi's neck. "Shall I cut you quickly or slowly?"

"You succeeded your suicide attempt!" Fayne cheered unnecessary at the situation. "You must be very stupid; but don't worry, I'll send your stupidity out of this world." Then he clasped his hands together and started to murmur several things, exclaiming in the middle of his rant that Lavi was a poor guy, who should disappear to decrease the number of stupid people from this world.

_Fayne, you're horrible._ Beads of sweat formed along the back of my neck. Several seconds later, I could hear Lavi's screams echoing throughout the cafeteria along with the sounds of Kanda viciously slashing Mugen through the air, and yelling for the Stupid Rabbit to slow down.

_******~OoOoO~**_

The next three days passed by very smooth; too smooth for my liking. Since I got back from my mission, everyday I was waiting for a new assignment, but nothing came. And being the stubborn person I was, I tried to busy myself by doing several things: hanging out with Fayne or Lavi … and failing; trying to meditate with Kanda … and almost getting myself killed; having some good and bad times with the Science Division's machines; talking with Reever; helping Helena with her papers and keeping her sober; being scolded by Jerry for not giving enough care to my own 'beauty' like he says, and the like. I even tried to look for Fausto, but unfortunately, he was sent to investigate another area right after we returned to the Order.

"Helena," I called the scientist from the other side of her office and casually opened the door as I stepped inside. "I didn't see you at the cafeteria, so I asked Jerry to make you some food." I placed the plate of fresh food, coffee and water beside her sleeping form.

The brunette murmured under her breath as she slowly lifted her head up from the desk. "Leilah?" her eyelids squinted for some time as I pointed a finger at the plate beside her. "Did you bring it to me?" She beamed and gave me a sweet smile that could easily melt sugar.

I nodded. "Of course, but Jerry made it." I hummed as I noticed her hazel eyes glimmering with happiness before changing to becoming … tired? It was then that I looked closer at her face, especially around her eyes, and could see some heavy shadows forming. "You haven't slept well again, have you?" Suddenly my voice and expression softened. "You push yourself so much."

Helena chuckled bitterly as she dragged the plate near her and started to butter her toast with a small knife. "You think so?" I sighed at her statement, but before I could reply, I noticed that her expression had turned a bit stern. "I am just in a hurry with some papers." She abruptly turned to meet my eyes. "Don't worry with me, dear ..."

"Is it something you need done right now?" I inquired, unconvinced, as I furrowed my brows. "Can you tell me what it is?"

"Nothing that you have to worry about," she assured me, airily stretching her arms. "But, if you are curious," she took off her glasses and leaned forward in her seat, "do you remember Cross Marian?"

I stopped for a moment to think of the strange name. "Ah." I snapped out of my daze, and shifted my eyes to the ceiling above us, as a flash of vibrant, fiery **male **red hair came to me like a ghost. "I remember that I met him several times when I was still a kid." I stated, brushing off the man's figure and cocked my head to one side. "I remember that time to time he tried to date Master Klaud, and most of the time it ended with Master whipping him away." I cringed, making a face.

"Well, that must be him." Helena grinned hopelessly, a mix of concern and shame for the only memory that I have of him, until she cleared her throat. "He went missing from the Order almost four years ago." She sighed in dismay before her expression changed again. "But when you were off on your mission with Fayne, a new face popped out of nowhere." A strange brightness lined her eyes. "His apprentice joined us, who happens to be an Exorcist just like you."

I found myself smiling at her kind and relieved expression. "Well, that was a good thing, huh?" I asked kindly while I stretched my arms.

"Although I never thought that Cross could die, it's good to know that he's been doing well." She stated to herself, but the silence inside the room made her small whisper louder than it should be, allowing me to hear her. I just pretended not to.

"Oh, I just remembered now," Helena jumped to her feet. "It seems like you had a mission assigned; if I remember correctly, it will be a long-term mission." Her eyes dropped as she pulled me into a tight hug filled with compassion and concern. "I will be waiting for your return, okay?" She cooed and released me, yet bent down to reach my eye level. "Also, give me a call when you're free, that way I'll feel more relieved."

"Of course," I responded, "I have to check in on you guys to see how **you**, as well as Reever, and the others are doing." I cockily tapped her with my index finger before leaving her office. Right before I left however, I heard small chuckles. "I'm off!" I exclaimed and walked out, heading for Komui's office.

_******~OoOoO~**_

I walked through the dark corridors alone and soon reached for Komui's office doorknob. Rather 'strangely,' the door was half open, and I could hear the sounds of complains and groans coming from two exorcists.

Driven by my own curiosity, I entered Komui's disorganised world and shut the door behind me, making sure that I wouldn't be noticed by anyone. It didn't take me long to recognize both boys standing right in front the Supervisor's desk; they were Fayne and Kanda. Komui sat at his desk and watched them bicker, clearly amused.

I gulped and turned my back when a sudden burst of cold thin air hit my skin. Something wasn't good, and seemed to be advising me to stay away. For my own despair I backed away, however, when I opened the door to leave, I was spotted by two pairs of eyes. I jumped and shrieked. Kanda glowered my way, and Fayne was his usual self, devoid of any expression. "He-hey there ..." I managed to open my mouth with a fake smile as I made my way between the two exorcists, since I realized there was no way to escape the situation unharmed.

There was another awful silence. "Komui," Kanda called the Supervisor, who also jumped and straightened himself in his chair. It seemed like he wasn't having a good time … though he was smiling when Kanda and Fayne were—better yet, when **Kanda **was yelling … and Fayne was standing there. "For what reason did you decide to call me and … this Sloth here for?!"

Komui flinched and stayed quiet as the stares of Kanda and Fayne intensified. After a few minutes, he answered with an unusual gruffly tone. "Fayne, Kanda, I need to send the two of you on a mission, TOGETHER." He nervously sipped his coffee and dropped his serious face. "So ..." He rested his eyes on me, evenly sliding his gaze to Fayne and Kanda individually. "Are there any objections?"

Silence. And then there was more silence.

Hesitantly, I glanced at Kanda. "Kanda?" I called out his name. He took one large breath and opened his mouth.

"LIKE HELL I WILL GO ON A MISSION WITH THIS SLOTH!" The samurai shouted while pointing an accusatory finger at Fayne's face, who just yawned, making Kanda a bit more upset. "I WON'T GO ON A MISSION WITH THAT THING, NEVER! HE CAN'T DO ANYTHING AND HE JUST GETS IN THE WAY!"

I shifted a little from my spot, uncomfortable, since I was in the middle of the beginning of another war between the two boys and at anytime, the long haired exorcist could drag his sword to my neck. Inwardly, I placed a hand on my neck to assure myself that it was there, and that it would never get cut off from my body.

Suffering in silence and fear, Fay decided to take a not-so-wise action and opened his mouth. "No way, Supervisor," he interjected, raising his hand and catching everyone's attention due to his usual, dull and deadpanned tone. "I don't like him at all."

I froze when I realized what was going to happen. Kanda merely 'tsked' and plopped himself on the velvet couch with a strange smirk that made the situation even worse. Komui then showed us his back as he swivelled in his chair, occupying himself by moving **many **stacks of paper from one side of the desk to the other.

_My eyes narrowed. __Komui, did you just throw me into the situation to take your place!_

Taking advantage of the newfound silence, Fayne cleared his throat and shot a glance at the Japanese exorcist on the velvet couch. "Just look at him, Supervisor; he is bad tempered with a bad personality, fox eyes, and has stupid long hair that makes him look like a girl and—" Fayne suddenly stopped as a black figure attacked him with a sharp sword. The figure, that happened to be Kanda, pointed his sword at Fayne's neck with a dark smile and evil eyes. After gasping and gulping, Fayne did the best thing he could think of – he waved his arms in front of his face and laughed, "Just kidding, just kidding, Supervisor ..." The blonde send a pleading look at the still-pretending-to-clean office man.

Kanda growled and removed Mugen from Fayne's neck, yet kept a firm hold on his uniform's collar. Grinning evilly, he pushed the blonde to the floor. "Why, of all the people here, do I have to go on a mission with this guy?!" He exclaimed, clearly upset, as always. "Why don't you send the Sloth with that Monkey over there?!" he pointed a finger at me with a matching glare.

I sighed because I didn't know why I was in this mess. "Can you two just go on your mission and get along—" I suggested politely.

**Keyword: tried.**

"Never."

"No way."

The boys interjected coldly as they stared at each other again for a brief moment, until Komui decided to do something about our current situation. "Kanda, Fayne." He caught their attention. "This time, I don't want to hear any excuses." His expression darkened. "A few days ago, a General was murdered."

It was all that Komui had to say to regain the silence and, at some point, concern from everyone's side. "A General?" I stuttered. "Are you saying that one of the most powerful exorcists inside the Order was murdered?!"

"Klaud Nine," Fayne began to list the Generals names, counting them off with his fingers. "Winter Socalo, Froi Tiedoll, Kevin Yeegar ..." Then he stopped counting as he cocked his head to one side, confused. "Hmm?" he interjected, saying their names again. "Klaud, Socalo, Tiedoll, Yeegar ..." He did the same thing three times. "Tiedoll, Yeegar …"

Seeing that no one was willing to help the troubled teen, I tiredly told him the last name. "Cross Marian," I muttered as Fayne just placed a fist on his open palm. Ignoring the boy, I rolled my eyes and looked to Komui again. "W-who was the one?" I flinched a little before I asked, but there was no way to avoid the news.

There was a small pause. "Kevin Yeegar," he replied, not giving a chance to me or the others to interrupt. "He was found in Belgium nailed backwards to a cross. The words 'God Hunt' were carved into his back." He adjusted his glasses. "Like you three know already, each of the five Generals had different long-term missions assigned to them from Central. While they travelled the world completing their assignments, they also search for people compatible with Innocence; that's why General Yeegar carried so many with him. All of the Innocence he held was destroyed, which amounted to nine." He finished, stopping to see our expressions.

"May I ask?" Fay interjected calmly. "How was his—No, what caused his death?" Everyone looked at him, which made him look slightly unpleased. "Why are you all looking at me like that? Did I ask something wrong?" He hissed.

"There were several fatal wounds, so we don't know which one was the final blow to kill him ..." Komui respond as he looked down sadly. "On the verge of dying, he kept singing until his last breath."

"Singing?" I shifted my gaze to a tall figure who now standing by the door with his lips pursed. I decided to ignore the fact that he was standing a little far from us by focusing all my attention on Komui.

"What do you mean?" Kanda questioned in his usual gruff manner.

Komui took a deep breath. "It was literally a song that said 'The Millennium Earl is searching for the precious Heart. It wasn't me, who will be next—'"

I cut him in the middle. "Heart?" I frowned, remembering reading about the term once before. "One day when I was organizing Helena's files, I remember reading that the 'Heart' is the one Innocence that is the source of power for all the other Innocences. If it's destroyed, all the other Innocences that exist in our world will turn to nothing."

Fayne gasped. "You mean they'll be destroyed?" He shot a look at Komui, who nodded in agreement. "If we then consider the song's tasty lyrics to be true, then we can say that the next targets are—"

"The Generals," Komui finished as he fixed his glasses on his nose's bridge. "That is why all exorcists from all over the world are being called here, and divided in four groups to protect the remaining Generals." He stood up from his seat and collected several papers, folders and documents filled with files and maps.

It took Fayne a minute to realize his current situation. Right when Komui handed him a folder, he backed away. "No, no, no, no!" He stepped back, shaking his head and hands desperately as he tried to find some logical excuse. "Kanda was trained by General Tiedoll, but I was trained by Master Klaud!"

For a brief moment, I could see Kanda's carved scowl disappearing from his face, but it soon returned when Komui opened his mouth. "General Klaud's group is already complete, Fayne; that's why I will send you to General Tiedoll's team, also ..." Komui smirked darkly, "since you aren't the fighter type, you will need someone with close ranged distance to fight." Then he turned to me. "And this time, I will need to send Leilah on a 'special business' mission."

A chill ran down my spine. Hesitantly, I eyed Fay, who was still a bit shocked, and Kanda, who cursed under his breath. "No way ..." Fayne crouched, disappointed, as he began to grumble alone in one corner. "So, until the very end I will have to go with _that guy_. He couldn't be something better at least? Bad tempered, stupid, girly, long haired, stupid, and stupid—" He abruptly stopped when Kanda hit the back of his head without holding back. There wasn't any reaction or counterattack from Fayne's side. After some seconds I started to worry if Kanda had hit him so hard that he couldn't even move.

"Are you okay, Fayne?" I asked him as I placed a hand on his shoulder. He backed away, and when seeing the steadily dark growing and electric aura coming from his body, I instinctively made a fist and hit his back again.

He groaned as the strange aura disappeared to God-knows-where and left the teenager with his hands holding his head. "What was that for?" He asked with teary eyes.

I shrugged, but before I could continue the small talk, Komui remarked. "Kanda, Fayne, I need you two to leave here as fast as possible."

"Tche …"

"My head ..."

Since Fayne was still crying about his head, Kanda soon lost his patience and took the blond by the collar, making the former topple over and get dragged to the office door. With several curses from the samurai's mouth and several unnecessary comments from the other, Komui cheerily instructed Fayne by giving him several papers and verbal instructions, which I knew he chose to ignore. Then finished, Komui turned to face me as I curiously took a seat on the velvet couch. Crossing my legs and tilting my head to the side, I asked:

_**"So ... what is my mission? Since Master Klaud's team is settled, what will I do?"**_

_**Act V**_

_**End**_

_****__******~OoOoO~**_

_**Next Chapter ...**_

"So," I was the first one to interrupt the silence forming between the three of us, "can either of you tell me why you both got caught so easily?!" I yelled in dismay as Lavi and the silver-haired boy looked away, ashamed. Seeing that I wouldn't obtain an answer, I rested my gaze on the boy tied to my right side. He straightened his posture when he felt my eyes on him. "And who are you?" I asked in a clipped tone due to my current out-of-nerves moment.

"He is Bean Sprout," Lavi replied quickly with a grin on his face, "but he can also be called by the name of Allen." He concluded nervously when he saw the number of daggers that the silver haired one was throwing at him. "By the way, Leilah ..." Lavi changed the subject with a curious look "Why are you here?"

I blinked for some time. _That's right,_ I realized, _why the heck was I here with these two dorks … tied up like a criminal, no less?!_

"Well," I began, "Komui sent me here on a solo mission. When I arrived and noticed my surroundings, I found myself surrounded by a swarm of guys and was then tied up like this." I concluded with a hopeless sigh. "That's why I didn't want to come here in the first place. From the start, my gut instincts were kicking me from inside telling me to stay away. Plus, this village already has bad rumours circulating about a vampire—"

"SO, BLACK MISTRESS, YOU CAME HERE ALREADY KNOWING ABOUT OUR TROUBLES!" A man screamed very close to me, making me jump when I saw his bulging eyes, which seemed to be almost falling from his face.

**"AHH! PERSONAL SPACE!"** I yelled desperately to the old man as I leaned back far. However, I ended up toppling backwards from the chair I was sitting in, and smacked my back against the hard cold ground.

"**OWW!" **I whined my eyes beginning to swirl. That had hurt.

* * *

**_Author's Corner ..._**

**_TriforceandSheikahArts: always glad to hear your kind words! I am truly happy that you liked Fayne's Innocence; I have had some hard time thinking on 'what his weapon will be'. Judging for his character and personality, I thought that he could be some 'support' type, just like Miranda. Well, thank you for your words and for helping me out with this story (:_**

**_Zero: Thanks for your words and for voting. (: I hope that my story gets more reviews too, there are so many "ghost reviews"! Just show your faces, haha._**

**_Guest: Thanks for voting and reviewing my story! I will work hard to deliver better chapters!_**

**_Leon: Thanks for your review! To answer your question, I want you to remember that the "Innocence" can somehow control their Accommodators mind's and will especially for Parasitic Types. It was just like what happened to Leilah in that chapter; it was the will of her weapon to destroy the Akuma that took control of her hands. In the end, she ended up crying because of some influence of her Innocence and for, of course, it demonstrates that she is kind to cry for an Akuma. It will all be explained in the future. (:_**

**_AGAIN, THANKS FOR READING AND PLEASE, REVIEW!_**


	7. Vampire Arc - Act IV: A warm welcome

**_The Vampire of the Castle Arc_**

**_Act VI_**

_**A Warm Welcome**_

**_Hello guys! Here is another update for you! I hope you like it!_**

**_P.S: _****_For everyone who reviewed _****_my story, I have a reply for you at the end of the chapter. Please take a look!_**

_**THE INTRODUCTION OF THE CANON CHARACTER IN THIS CHAPTER!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the D. Gray Man characters, plot, and everything else about it; it belongs to Master Katsura Hoshino. But I do own my OC's.**_

_**Story: PopCandysmiley**_

_**Beta: TriforceandSheikahArts (check her amazing works!)**_

**_PLEASE REVIEW! _****_You guys don't have any idea how much it makes me smile, and grow as a writer!_**

**_Author's Whine: Oww, man! I REALLY want you guys to review, critique, compliment, praise … anything!_**

**_PS: Next chapter, things will get interesting :DD With a small cliffhanger. _**

**_PS: When the Vampire Arc end, there will be about one or two chapters with Fayne POV. BATTLE OF BARCELONA ARC._**

**_PS: And, the one in the cover is no one than Leilah. I am thinking in making a DEVIANTART account, but I am still not sure._**

**-o0o0o-**

"It's here!" I looked around only to realize that I was the only one standing on the entire railway platform. Everything was dead due to the thin air that surrounded me, as well as the station lights that blinked from time to time. "Is this really the place?" I murmured as I removed a small paper from my coat pocket. I unfolded the pages and scanned their contents. "'Noah' is the name of a groundless clan that always makes an appearance on the crossroads of history alongside an unnamed Earl of Millennium ... Lenalee Lee and Allen Walker were the first two exorcists to spot a female figure belonging to the Clan of Noah." I stopped reading when I realized that I was on the wrong page, so I just flipped through the pages until I found the correct one. "'This is a story about a supposed vampire ….'"

"**A VAMPIRE?!"**

It seemed that someone was horrified by my words.

I looked up, dumfounded, to see a man that was some feet away from me, squeaking, with a real pale face, and who also managed to drop a small plate of bread onto the stone ground.

"DI-DID YOU MEAN THAT?!" He asked me frantically while his hands couldn't stop shaking.

"No! No!" I promptly replied, shaking my hands in front of my face as I felt bad for scaring him. "I-I mean ... I am terribly sorry for scaring you like that, Sir."

"**YOU DIDN'T MEAN IT THEN?!**"

I just heard another voice – this one seemed to be even closer. I turned to see his face mere inches from mine. "YOU DIDN'T MEAN IT, DID YOU MISTRESS?!" He questioned me with a rough voice, as his sunken, bulging, bloodshot red eyes threatened to fall out of his sockets and land on me at any time. "MISTRESS?!" he repeated, making me shudder.

For a moment, I wondered why he looked even more desperate than before. But seeing that stare intensify, I threw my arms up defensively. "YES SIR, I DID MEAN IT! NOW PLE—"I shut my mouth when noticing that his eyes were no longer fixated on me, but on the silver cross attached to my uniform. Like magic, sparkles beamed from his eyes making me back away.

"Sir?" I called, noticing a small tear roll down his cheek. "Are you—"In the blink of an eye, he turned away and began to run down the shadowy village street. My jaw dropped. "WAIT, SIR, YOU FORGOT YOUR CART THING!" I shouted behind him, but his silhouette had already disappeared into the darkness.

I sighed, already tired. Placing a hand on my hip and shifting my weight on one leg, I continued to read the small piece of paper – which I hadn't forgotten about – but was interrupted by the sounds of footsteps approaching. Curious, I looked up, and felt all of my skin colouring drain from my face.

"**I SWEAR THAT I CAME HERE IN PEACE!**" I yelled to the crowd of black coated people running towards me. Most of them were clutching pitchforks and other gardening tools, while the rest held torches. In the lead was the same man from before: the scary, bloodshot eyed weirdo.

"Hold on, guys ..." I begged, horrified, as I noticed that I had been placed in the middle of the crowd. **"No way!** **NO WAY**!" I cried in dismay as the last thing I saw was several people charging straight for me.

* * *

I soon found myself tied to a chair in the corner of an old barn, facing the men who kidnapped me. And, of course, in the lead was the very scary man. I squinted several times to adjust my vision to the very illuminated barn. The train station had been so dark, that I had doubted the village had any means of electricity. Blinking profusely, I looked straight at the several people who seemed enthralled with my very presence.

"MISTRESS CLERGYWOMAN!" a familiar voice shouted out of the blue. Shifting my head, I found the old man. "EVERYONE, GREET OUR SAVIOR!" He gestured to the others behind him as several shadows engulfed me, falling on their knees as they begged for help, whining about several things that I couldn't understand too well. "SHE WILL SAVE US FROM THE MONSTROUS HANDS OF BARON KRORY!" He announced heroically as he balled his left hand into a fist. "NOW, MY PEOPLE, WE CAN FINALLY STOP THE VAMPIRE!"

My face twitched. "Sir, I am sorry but I didn't say a word about—"

"BUT YOU SAID TO ME BEFORE THAT YOU REALLY MEANT IT!" He whined, enclosing the distance between us as his face regretfully neared mine again.

"**YES I DID!**" I answered, making him back away. This time he seemed terrified, which would've made me laugh if I wasn't tied up! Getting testy, I decided to ask them to let me go from this overly awkward situation. "Hmm, so, is there any chance that you guys would untie me?" I smiled nervously.

"My name is George and I am the current mayor of this village." He just ignored my request, making me growl. And if it wasn't enough, he continued with his speech like I had never spoken at all. "Mistress Clergywoman, it is dangerous to walk alone in the night; there is a vampire living near here."

I stared, dumbfounded, thinking to myself. _No, Mayor George, you're the one who doesn't understand; it's dangerous for __me __to stay here with __you__ right now._

"The vampire's name is Baron Arystar Krory. You never see him out during the day. During the night, human screams can always be heard coming from his castle. They say that whoever enters his castle never comes out alive."

"Oh." I interject a little too sardonically for George, making him bring his face closer to mine. "Never mind, continue Sir." I quickly replied, staring without much interest.

"But it wasn't all bad." He turned his back to me. "As long as we stayed away from the castle, he did not bother us. We lived in a strange harmony." George stated and suddenly turned to face me. "But until that night a scream echoed throughout the town, making us run to his castle; but it was too late." He looked to the floor. "He had already killed an old woman by sucking her blood until she evaporated ..."

I didn't know how to react, so I just played around. "My," I whispered pretending to be surprised by his statement, but someone took the words from my mouth beforehand.

"**No way** ..."

The voice sounded way too familiar. Stunned, I soon brightened in relief as I turned my gaze to the person behind me, who… was inside an empty wine barrel? "Lavi?" I gasped to the sight of the boy holding his cheek with the palm of his hand. The redhead lazily turned his head to me, cocking it slightly like he wasn't getting why I was here. "Lavi, we should leave here now and—"

"ANOTHER BLACK CLERGYMAN!" the mayor shouted as he pointed a finger towards us, making several black cloaked people jumped on Lavi, as multiple sounds of clashes, yells and pleas of fright – emanating from Lavi's mouth – echoed throughout the room. I kept quiet as I watched my buddy being tied up beside me.

"THE DAY HAS FINALLY COME! NOW WE HAVE TWO—" George stopped his announcement as a huge muscular man sent the barn door almost flying open due to his strong kick when he entered the barn.

George let out a girlish scream until he noticed what the former was carrying over his shoulders: it was an exorcist that I didn't know. The person had shoulder length white hair and wore a traditional long black adorned by the Order's silver cross. Soon after, it didn't take much time for the boy to awake and to turn my way and gasp when seeing Lavi. It was then that I saw his face. He had a jagged, reddish pentacle-like scar that ran from his forehead to his mid-cheek. My earlier scowl soon dropped as I spotted his scar marked eye that split his face on the left side of his visage. My jaw dropped. I focused all of my attention to his mark that for some reason looked wounded because of his tightly closed eye. Leaving it aside, what caught my attention the most was the pentacle on his forehead. Why? Simple, it was the mark of _**Akuma. **_The marking of demons and the darkness … this boy was literally cursed!

My face started to pale.

"MY, MY!" cried George in obvious relief, snapping me from my trance. I watched as tears streamed down his cheeks like waterfalls. "THREE DARK ROBED PRIESTS!" The villagers cried gleefully in unison while the newly arrived exorcist was placed beside me, sandwiching me between both boys.

Since the villagers were preoccupied – and thankfully ignoring us for the moment – I took advantage of the silence to catch my thoughts and talk to my teammates. "So," I spoke as I caught everyone's gaze lying on me, "can either of you tell me why you both got caught so easily?!" I yelled in dismay as Lavi and the silver-haired boy looked away, ashamed. Seeing that I wouldn't obtain an answer, I rested my gaze on the boy tied to my right side. He straightened his posture when he felt my eyes on him. "And, who are you?" I asked in a clipped tone due to my current out-of-nerves moment.

"He is Bean Sprout," Lavi replied quickly with a grin on his face, "but he can also be called by the name of Allen." He concluded nervously when he saw the number of daggers that the silver haired one was throwing at him. "By the way, Leilah ..." Lavi changed the subject with a curious look, "Why are you here?"

I blinked for some time. _That's right,_ I realized, _why the heck was I here with these two dorks … tied up like a criminal, no less?!_

"Well," I began, "Komui sent me here on a solo mission. When I arrived and noticed my surroundings, I found myself surrounded by a swarm of guys and was then tied up like this." I concluded with a hopeless sigh. "That's why I didn't want to come here in the first place. From the start, my gut instincts were kicking me from inside telling me to stay away. Plus, this village already has bad rumours circulating about a vampire—"

"SO, BLACK CLERGYWOMAN, YOU REALLY CAME HERE ALREADY KNOWING ABOUT OUR TROUBLES!" George screamed very close to me, making me jump when I saw his bulging eyes and wide mouth.

"**AHH! PERSONAL SPACE!**" I yelled desperately to the old man as I leaned further back into my chair, but ended up toppling backwards and smacking my back against the hard cold ground. "OWW!" I whined my eyes beginning to swirl. That had hurt!

"Are you okay?" Bean—I mean, Allen asked me with concern as he looked down and tried to help me out, but failed since his arms were bound with rope. "Lavi, stop laughing!" He criticized, but the redhead wouldn't stop chuckling like a crazed lunatic.

I stayed quiet since I heard several sounds: Allen's caring voice; Lavi's obnoxious laughter; the villagers incessant whispering. It was enough to make me groan and want to dig myself a hole and die in there.

"My apologies," George helped me to my feet, returning me to my earlier position.

I sighed heavily, utterly tired. "Can you just proceed?" I suggested to George, who gladly accepted my proposal and continued his tale. Lavi and Allen stared at George as they each sighed, both feeling and looking quite drained.

"Well," George coughed to clear his throat, "actually, just before Baron Krory turned violent, there was another traveler who passed through our humble village. He wore a uniform just like yours, and had a similar cross pined to chest." He watched us, gagging our reactions. "The traveler was a priest who asked for directions to Baron Krory's castle. We desperately tried to stop him, but he just brushed us off and went laughing to the castle ... Finally, he was gone." He stopped for dramatic effects, which for once seemed to work because all three of us gulped. "But!" he turned around to face us, making me jump in my seat. "After three days, he came back! And, before he left, he told us that if something strange happens to Baron Krory, that someone wearing a similar outfit and bearing the same silver cross would appear! For some time, not a single traveler appeared … but now, at this very moment, we have **NOT** one person with such an emblem, but **THREE**!"

And suddenly, like magic, everyone knelt to the floor bowing, pleading for us to help exterminate the vampire. I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, Allen spoke up. "What kind of person was that traveler?"

Without hesitation, George promptly took out a small notebook and pencil from his coat pocket, and started to draw a quick sketch. When finished, he thrust it forward, grinning smugly. "This kind of person, good Sir Clergyman!" He placed a hand on his hip and huffed.

I looked closely at the pencil sketch, but couldn't recognize the person. Under the scribble however, George had neatly printed the name _General Cross. _I blinked, stumped. "General Cross came here?"

"Master!" groaned Allen when he heard my voice. "I knew it wasn't a good idea to come here!" He grumbled, depressed, his face paling each time he repeated the General's name. Meanwhile, Lavi was busy laughing his head off while I kept quiet, groaning inwardly, thinking the very same thought Allen had just voiced.

* * *

After endless complaints from Lavi and Allen, we finally managed to get ourselves untied. It was nice to be able to move freely again. Afterwards, we talked with the citizens and George for a few more minutes. George seemed to have calmed down enough, making it slightly easier to understand his rambles. Listening to him answer the boys questions, I decided that I would investigate Krory's castle, as it was the reason I was here. The boys decided to accompany me, since they were searching for the General and part of the "General Cross Team," along with Lenalee and Bookman, who luckily weren't here – those lucky ducks. With all this in mind, I suppose I'm now an official member of the "General Cross Team." What fun. Not!

"Yes, we're now on the same team!" I exclaimed cheerfully to Lenalee, who I was currently talking to over the phone via-golem. "But you and Bookman can go on without us for now. We'll reunite once we're finished here."

"Oh, okay. We'll be waiting for you." She cleared her throat. "Leilah," her voice lowered slightly, "since you connected your golem to mine, I've been hearing strange sounds. What's happening over there?"

I turned around to see the entire village standing behind me, Allen and Lavi. They were all cheering us from behind as they carried pitchforks, torches and several gardening tools. Beads of sweat formed behind the back of my neck. I turned around and replied without any emotion, "Lenalee, there are times that it's better to not answer a person's question … this time happens to be one of those occasions."

She didn't seem to understand my answer, but thankfully she didn't complain. "I think I'll hang up now. Be careful you three, I read once that if a vampire bites you, you'll turn into one!" She stated, horrified. "**SO, DON'T GET BITTEN!**" After that scream of hers, the line went dead. I eyed Allen and Lavi.

"She really believes that?" Lavi asked hopelessly as we continued to walk through the path that led to the vampire's castle. Ironically, it was situated atop of a cliff. "There is no such thing as vampires, right, Allen?" He elbowed the other teen.

"Of course not," Allen replied without any doubt as he nodded to himself. Just then, he looked my way. "Sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet, right?" He smiled at me sheepishly, and rubbed his cheek with his gloved finger.

"Oh." I stopped walking, and outstretched a gloved hand. "My name is Leilah Fleuret. I hope we'll work well together!" I greeted him, flashing a smirk, "Nice to meet you, Cotton Head."

"Nice to meet you—wait, what did you call me?" He questioned me with a slight scowl, disbelief in his voice as his hand returned to his side. Coughing to pull himself together, he began, "My name is Allen Walker. That's spelled **A-L-L-E-N W-A-L-K-E-R!**"

"Man, I like the name." Lavi pointed out with his mischievous grin, ignoring Cotton Head's burning stare. "Cotton Head and Bean Sprout ... Man, now I don't know which one I should pick!"

"Maybe, you should call me Allen." Allen snorted not as amused at the redhead as he walked in front of us, huffing.

Still in a good mood, Lavi ran towards the boy and jumped on his back, hooking his arm around his neck. "Don't be so mean, Bean Sprout." Allen was about to retort, but Lavi cut him off. "I never would have thought that you'd be in Team Cross, Leilah." Lavi crossed his arms behind his neck casually.

"Huh." Allen flinched at the mention of his Mentor's name, evenly forgetting the past teasing. "Did you know him?" He asked me with his face paling little by little.

"Yep," I answered, replying with the memories I held of General Cross flirting with General Klaud Nine, and ending up being whipped in the process.

Allen face palmed. "That's just like him …" With his eyes closed, he walked forward and smacked his head on a huge iron gate, managing to fall back and onto his rear.

"Here." Helping him to his feet, the three of us looked at the gate that the mayor announced belonged to the castle of Baron Krory. The gate was made from several different kinds of stone, and the main entrance looked akin to a face with two large wooden doors in the middle, which happened to be carved in the shape of an actual mouth. George then explained to us that beyond that heavy door we'd find Krory's demonic garden, and then, his castle.

"**Bad taste**." The three of us chorused as we stared at the never-ending gate. If we looked carefully, we could see part of the castle roof that had strange demon-like statues decorating the corners. "**Really**** bad taste …**" We nodded at our statement.

"**FORWARD MEN!**" yelled George and pointed his pitchfork towards the gate.

"Yes, Sir," I sighed as I placed a hand to open the gate, but something crossed my mind again, almost like Déjà vu. Turning around, I cocked my head to the side. "Mind if one of you guys go first?" I asked both Allen and Lavi.

The two looked … scared. "Eh, Ladies first," Lavi placed a hand on the right side on the gate as Allen placed a hand on the other side, opening it in the process. Squeaking and muffled screams filled the air. Lavi grimaced. "Leilah, you can go first."

"Why do I always have to do this?" I whined, eyeing Allen pleading, who only offered a reassuring smile in response. Sighing, I decided that the three of us should go together. "Just kidding, let's go, **GUYS**." I slid my arms under Lavi and Allen's, linking our arms and leading the way with them.

The 'demonic garden' was more like a forest with a single path in the middle. The tall trees made it difficult to see, and the creepy statues only made the atmosphere even freakier. Looking behind me, I saw the villagers were tightly clutching their 'weapons' with their sweaty palms, gulping and shivering at any sounds they heard.

"Okay, let's kill the vampire!" Lavi suddenly cheered as the others behind us cheered weakly with him. Getting further into the garden, the deathly air intensified to the point that the next time I looked over my shoulders, all of the villagers had stopped walking. They were a pretty good distance from us now, too.

"He-Hey, Bean Sprout," Lavi called, not seeing Allen's slight shudder. "Are you scared yet?" He pointed to Allen's left hand that was already gloveless exposing his red skin.

_That must be his Innocence, _I realized.

"It's Allen!" He snorted for a moment and stuttered. "And I am not scared." Then Allen looked at Lavi's side to see him clutching his Innocence with his right hand. "Now that you mention it, Lavi, why do you also have your hand on your weapon?"

Lavi laughed nervously. "I'm not scared or anything~" He sang, although it easy enough to tell that he was lying. "Oh, and how about our lady friend?" he turned to me with a fake smile, trying to keep his cool and pretend that he was alright. "Aren't you scared, Leilah?"

I placed my hand behind me as I freed my Golem, finally meeting his emerald green eye. "Well, no." I simply replied and smirked. "But it's always in times like this that something just appears from thin air, right? Plus, the scaredy cats are usually the first ones to be killed." Finishing my sentence, I saw them stiffen. My smirk widened. "But don't let that bother either of you, okay?" I tapped their shoulders as something like a shadow passed through their hands.

"**Ahh!**" they jumped, hugging each other. After some seconds, they heard my snickers and only glowered my way as they detangled themselves from each other.

"That wasn't funny, Leilah!" Lavi roared as a scowl appeared on his face. Putting my Golem that was flying beside me away, he continued. "Don't do things like that!"

"Sorry, sorry," I apologized, but couldn't stop myself from grinning. "But I had to. Seriously, you have no idea how spectacular your expressions were!" They scowled and I rolled my eyes. "Seriously though, nothing happ—" I clicked my tongue when I saw several crows flying away from a far tree. As I learned from General Klaud, it was a well known fact that crows don't stop crowing until the morning. "S-Something's coming!" I stated warily, as the boys stared at me, confused. Before either one of them could ask, they obtained their answer as something fast dashed right past us.

"What was that?!" Allen asked as he looked straight in the direction that the villagers were currently standing.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!**" a horrified scream echoed throughout the already deathly air, piercing everything around it, hitting our ears like an alarm.

Running, we quickly reached the villagers to find half of them running back to the gate entrance and the other half were on their knees, unable to move or speak. Their gardening tools and burnt torches littered the ground.

"He's real ..." Lavi mumbled, stunned, staring at the disturbing scene playing right before our eyes. One of the villagers had a dark shadow surrounding him, as the figure's sharp teeth were stuck straight to his neck, sucking him dry. The villager's face was paling with each second that passed. Finally, when there was nothing more to take away, the figure let the body fall as he turned to face us.

"It-it's him!" George cried aloud, visibly frightened. "It's **Baron Arystar Krory!**"

I looked at Krory and shuddered. He really was terrifying. His eyes were a sharp onyx lined with light tints of dull yellow, reminding me of a cat's eye marble. His skin was translucently white – so much it was almost phantom-like – and his short black hair had a large section of white that seemed to magically stand on its own, revealing a pair of pointy elf ears. And what really freaked me out were those sharp fangs he had used earlier to penetrate the man's skin. He had held the innocent villager by the neck alone. That meant those dentures of his were strong … really strong!

"Baron," I pressed a shaking hand to my face, "Is that ... Baron Krory?!"

The Baron eyed the villagers, but focused his attention on Lavi, Allen and me. "I shall applaud you all for having the courage to stand against me." He hunched forward. "If you intend to fight me ... I shall start attacking that woman!"

I firmly planted my feet to the ground to prepare myself for the incoming attacks. The Baron, as expected, was fast and wild. Before I could even blink, he had both hands around my shoulders and was raising me upwards, preparing to bite my neck. I saw his glittering fangs and shuddered. No way! I struggled to free myself, but then noticed something out of the corner of my eye. It was Lavi, and he had his Innocence out, and looked ready and eager to play.

"Incoming!" He swung his hammer in our direction.

Meanwhile, Allen was getting ready too. "I won't let you hurt her!" He shouted as his left arm transformed from a plain red hand with stone nails to an arm gun, fully loaded and ready for us.

Lavi looked Allen's way and nodded. Allen grinned, nodded, and fired a large amount of ammunition at the Baron, while Lavi, wielding his hammer, brought it through the air and struck the Baron straight in his side. Caught off guard, the vampire loosened his hold on me, which provided me with the opportunity to free myself seconds before he went flying into a field of trees not too far from us.

"STRIKE!" Lavi yelled a tad too amused as he prepared his next attack.

"Are you okay, Leilah?" Allen asked, rushing towards me.

Crossing my arms, I nodded. "You guys are fast," I looked back to the Baron, who was quickly collecting himself. "Go for it." I told Lavi who looked somewhat excited.

He shot me a heartfelt smile and nodded affirmatively. "GOTCHA!" he jumped and raised his mighty hammer to the sky, evenly slamming it to where the enemy was. "How's that?!" Bookman Junior asked mockingly.

…

It was quiet for a moment. Allen and I shared a small glance in relief, only to hear a horrified yelp from Lavi. "YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" I saw him holding his hammer firmly, but it turned out to be in vain. In mere seconds, his weapon was tossed to the side like nothing, dragging everything in front of him away. "YOU HAVE **INCREDIBLE FANGS**, MAN!" It was his last words until he disappeared in the dust.

"LAVI!" shouted Allen, pursing his lips together as he placed himself in front of me, hiding me from the vampire. Then his arm got surrounded by a green light and after some seconds, it left a heavier, larger hand behind with several steel platelets covering his whole arm and claws. My eyes widened. "Stay back!" He ordered. I growled.

"I am not that useless, Bean Sprout!" I answered stubbornly, preparing my weapon as well. Removing my gloves, I activated my Innocence and got into proper fighting stance. Watching Allen dash forward, I soon followed behind him, vainly trying to capture the Baron's attention. Balling my hand into a fist, I charged towards the man and tried to close the distance between Krory and Allen.

"Huh!" The Baron easily dodged my attacks, angering me further. "For a woman, you do well!" He praised me with a mocking tone as he raised a hand to punch me.

I barely dodged his attack by performing a series of back flips. "Why, thank you," I hissed and crossed my arms. He stared, confused for a brief moment, when a loud sound came from the ground.

"What?" His eyes widened slightly as the ground beneath started to tremble and quickly gave in. A large white hand had then encased him. "You!" he snarled wryly, watching Allen with his narrowed snake-like eyes.

"I caught you." Allen stated sternly as he met the Baron's eyes. "Now, behave." His tone was louder than usual. Krory, however, merely smirked and opened his mouth, making everyone's jaws drop. We all watched in silence – Allen included – as he bit down on the boy's index finger and started to suck his blood.

"AAAAAAAAH!" my face twitched at the sound of Lavi's overly loud yell, "BEAN SPROUT, YOUR FINGER!" I stared at the redhead that was beginning to turn into a desperate bunny, who was covered in mud, leaves and bruises. **"LEILAH,** **THE OLD MAN IS SUCKING THE BEAN SPROUT'S BLOOD!**"

I sighed, exasperated. "Lavi, you're so wrong!" I placed a hand on my hip and raised a finger in Allen's direction. "**BEAN SPROUT'S ARE PLANTS, SO THEY DON'T HAVE BLOOD!"**

The boys face palmed right before I finished my remark. And, much for our surprise, we soon found Krory struggling to get out from Allen's grip. "**WHY THIS BLOOD IS HORRIBLE!**" He squirmed and spat out some of the red substance. "THIS IS THE WORST THING I'VE EVER TASTED!" He continued complaining, yet still managed to free himself from Allen's grasp and was now kneeling.

The three of us watched in silence as almost magically, the Baron jumped to his feet, turned to us and flashed a weak smile before grabbing the villager's corpse and making a mad dash for the castle. Everything then got quiet. I scratched the back of my head, still stunned, before looking down towards Allen.

He was sprawled on the ground, not caring that his clothes were getting covered in mud, twigs and leaves. He was staring at his finger and mumbling, "He ... He ... bit ... me." A small tear rolled down his cheek. "My arm ..." He gasped for a moment and looked towards us. "Lavi ... Leilah."

I flinched as Lavi tapped my shoulder. "**Don't worry, buddy**." He answered with a charismatic smile—but not before he put a large garlic necklace over himself. "I really don't mind that you got bitten by Krory. Don't worry!" When I turned around, Lavi was already a few good feet away from me. "Don't worry!"

Allen stayed on the ground as an aura of defeat surrounded him. Pulling himself together, he looked at me with pain and hope in his silver eyes. "Leilah?" he called, concerned, as I flashed him a smile, making him smile as well.

"Allen, I really **don't care** about what happened!" Then I showed him two large pieces of wooden stakes that happened to be lying on the ground; probably left behind by some of the villagers. When he saw what I was holding, his smile faltered. "But if something strange does happen, I would do this to you!" I pretended to poke my chest with the stakes. "That's okay, right?"

_**"YOU TWO ARE REALLY WHAT I CAN CALL A FRIEND!"**_ Allen cried aloud, watching as the few remaining villagers scrambled away from him. "That is why I didn't want to come here!"

_**And then, the unlucky boy evenly rose to feet and quietly left us, his expression faltering, as his bangs covered his eyes that glimmered with vexation and full, deep mortification.**_

_**Act VI**_

_**End**_

* * *

**Author's Corner ...**

**TriforceandSheikahArts:** Thanks for your review as always. ((: Until that update, I got only your review and it made me happy, I appreciate so much your work to ALWAYS review my story and tell your thoughts. Thanks again and I will continue to work hard to improve my language and eventually, make more people like this story. When that day comes, I expect that both you and me could be proud about this project.

**Volpico**: Thanks for adding the story in your alerts!


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